CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Planning Application

Phil Willis: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what the policy is of the Church Commissioners on the division of costs arising from an ecclesiastical court hearing into a planning application to site a mobile phone mast in a church spire.

Stuart Bell: The Church Commissioners have no involvement in decisions made in parishes about whether or not to site an aerial within a church building, or in determining responsibility for related costs.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Built Heritage

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures her Department has taken to organise support for the built heritage sector; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, together with the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, published its policy on the built heritage in XA Force for our Future" in December 2001. This was informed by XPower of Place", a review of the historic environment by the sector. We are now working closely with the sector to deliver this challenging agenda.

Funding Councils

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the performance of the funding councils for the performing and visual arts and for film; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with the Chairman of the Arts Council, Gerry Robinson, and Baroness Blackstone as Minister of State for the Arts, has regular meetings with the Chief Executive, Peter Hewitt. In July the Secretary of State announced additional funding for the Arts Council reflecting her confidence in the restructuring of the Arts funding system currently taking place.
	When the Film Council was established in April 2000, it was set 13 goals for film which had been identified in the course of the Film Policy Review (1998). These goals have formed the basis of the Film Council's funding agreement with the Department. Progress against the funding agreement is reviewed regularly. In addition, both the Secretary of State and I, as Minister for film, have met the Chair and Chief Executive of the Film Council on other occasions to discuss performance.
	The Film Council has already made significant progress in delivering many of its goals, and I warmly welcome Sir Alan Parker's speech given earlier this month setting out the Film Council's vision for the future of the British film industry.

National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost of production was of the annual report 2002 of the National Endowment for Science and Technology; how many reports were produced; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The cost of producing NESTA's annual report 2002 was £48,885 (excluding VAT) and 5,000 copies were produced.

Performing Arts

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the New Audiences programme; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: This is a matter for the Arts Council of England who have been administering the programme since its inception. The programme does not finish until the end of this year and a full evaluation will be made by ACE in 2003.

Performing Arts

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of her Department's contribution to enabling access to the performing arts in (a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000, (c) 2000–01 and (d) 2001–02; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The grant-in-aid figures for the Arts Council for each of the above years was as follows: 1998–99 £189.9 million; 1999–2000 £228.2 million; 2000–01 £237.2 million and 2001–02 £252.2 million. In July this year my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a further substantial increase in my Department's funding for the arts for 2004–05 to 2005–06. As a result of this Government funding for the arts will be £412 million in 2005–06, or 73 per cent. higher in real terms than in 1997–98.

Playing Fields

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her statement on 15 November, Official Report, column 336, what the basis was of her statement that 5,000 school playing fields were sold off between 1979 and 1997; and how many school playing fields have been sold since 1997.

Tessa Jowell: No data were collected centrally on how many school playing fields there were in either 1979 or 1997. My estimate of about 5,000 playing fields comes from two sources. First, the Central Council of Physical Recreation published a paper in 1984 "Sports Fields at Risk", which indicated that some 3,630 areas of recreation land recorded on Land Registers were at risk of disposal. A more meaningful way of quantifying the area under threat at that time is to translate this figure into about 5,000 school playing fields of sports pitch size.
	Second, the then Department for Education and Employment estimated that an average 40 playing fields a month were sold subsequent to the previous Government encouraging the disposal of playing fields in April 1996 by relaxing the Local Authority Capital Finance Regulations. Even if disposals had been running at only half this rate from 1979–1997, the total would have approached 5,000 disposals.
	Data collected under this Government were announced by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Sport on 10 June this year, Official Report, column 1006W.

Public Libraries (Internet Access)

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many internet connections there were in public libraries in the UK in (a) 1998 and (b) 2002; what proportion of public libraries in the UK had internet connections in June 2002; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The £120 million lottery funded programme to connect public libraries in the UK to the Internet and provide ICT training for all library staff is proceeding well. In June 2002 there were 2,909 libraries connected to the internet and offering public access compared to just 215 libraries in 1998. This means that 70 per cent. of all UK libraries were online as of June 2002. The programme is expected to fulfil its original target of connecting libraries, wherever practical, to the internet by the end of 2002.

Tourism Revenue (Euro Entry)

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact which the UK's retention of the pound in preference to entering the Eurozone has had on tourist revenue; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey) on 11 December 2001, Official Report, column 751W.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carrier Programmes

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions have taken place with US and British companies on the design and procurement of the aircraft carrier in relation to the carrier-borne aircraft.

Lewis Moonie: During the course of normal project development for the United Kingdom's Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) and Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) programmes, numerous discussions have taken place between British and American companies. Lockheed Martin, the contractor for the United States Joint Strike Fighter programme, is also a member of both teams competing for the CVF project, which are led by BAE SYSTEMS and Thales. Personnel from the CVF project team also maintain contact with their opposite numbers in the US carrier programme.

Congestion Charging

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost is to his Department of the Central London Road User Charging Scheme for (a) 17 February 2003 to 31 March 2003, and (b) 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 19 November 2002
	Any additional costs to the Ministry of Defence as a result of the congestion charging scheme will be just one element within wider costs which have to be met from budgets for official travelling and other costs.

Correspondence

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will write to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South, regarding his answer of 5 November 2002, Official Report, column 168W, concerning the disposal of the Gunwharf and HMS Vernon site in Portsmouth to Barclay Homes.

Lewis Moonie: I have replied today and a copy of my letter has been placed in the Library of the House.

Defence Fire Service

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals there are to privatise the Defence Fire Service; and who would have control of the service if there were a major crisis.

Adam Ingram: The Airfield Support Services Project (ASSP) is seeking to achieve the most viable and cost effective solution for the provision of airfield support service to the Ministry of Defence world-wide with options that include both Public Private Partnership and in house solutions. There is also a complementary work stream, Fire Study 2000, that has looked specifically at the organisation and operation of the Defence Fire Service, which is to inform the Public Sector Comparator for ASSP.
	Bids from the three consortia involved in ASSP were received at the end of April and are now being evaluated. Main Gate approval is currently planned for the second half of 2003. No decisions have been taken at this stage. Whatever solution is taken forward, we would ensure that we preserve our ability to manage crisis situations.

Unexploded Ordnance

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of magnetic profiling in searching for unexploded ordnance at military training areas;
	(2)  whether his Department uses (a) Global Positioning System and (b) magnetometry scanning methods in surveying unexploded ordnance at military training grounds;
	(3)  what geophysical instrumentation the British army uses in clean-up operations at military training grounds.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has had, for a number of years, a magnetic profiling capability which is widely recognised as an effective method of establishing the degree of contamination within an area of land. The British Army does not currently employ geophysical instrumentation in ordnance clearance operations at military training grounds as it is not considered to provide the degree of accuracy required for the location of smaller types of ordnance. The Ministry of Defence currently possesses both Global Positioning System and magnetometry scanning capabilities. It is planned that more advanced equipment will be introduced in the next training year which will provide improved information on the presence of UXO within a given area.

Unexploded Ordnance

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department has the capability to carry out airborne surveys of military training sites to detect (a) exploded and (b) unexploded ordnance.

Adam Ingram: Although we do not possess equipment designed specifically to detect unexploded ordnance from the air, the Ministry of Defence has used high- resolution photographic reconnaissance imagery to assist in explosive ordnance disposal work.

Unexploded Ordnance

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hectares per day the British army clears of unexploded ordnance when they carry out clearing operations in Archers Post, Kenya.

Adam Ingram: Every British army unit conducting live firing activities on Archers Post conducts, on their completion, a clearance operation designed to ensure that all unexploded ordnance has, as far as possible, been marked and destroyed. In addition, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron of the Royal Engineers undertakes Exercise Pineapple annually in Kenya. The historical average, over the four-week period of the exercise, is that an area of up to three square kilometres is cleared, though this is subject to variation.

McKinsey and Company

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has commissioned from McKinsey and Company in the past four years.

Adam Ingram: Since September 1998, Ministry of Defence records indicate that four contracts have been let to McKinsey and Company to produce the following reports:
	Consultancy support for the Smart Procurement Initiative.
	Support to Equipment Capability Customer Development.
	Re-energising the Ministry of Defence Change ProgrammeAssessment of Defence Information Infrastructure.
	Re-energising the Ministry of Defence Change ProgrammeReview and Adjust the DLO Business Change Programme.

Medical Manning and Retention Review

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what targets have been set in relation to his commitment to implement the recommendations of the Medical Manning and Retention Review; if he will publish (a) the Review recommendations and (b) the proposed pay scales for personnel in the Defence Medical Services; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Military Vehicle Contracts

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which firms are bidding for military vehicle contracts; and what is (a) the size of their work force and (b) the country in which they are based.

Lewis Moonie: Current competitions for military vehicles include (a) HILLS (High Velocity Missile, Improved Medium Mobility, Lightweight Mobile Launcher, Shoulder Launch System) (b) Wheeled Tankers (c) Cargo Tracks and Wheeled Recovery Vehicles and (d) The Future Command Liaison Vehicle. I am withholding information relating to proposed purchases for Special Forces use under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which covers defence, security and international relations.
	
		
			 Project Company Work force(1) Country in which company based 
		
		
			 HILLS Automotive Technik Ltd. Under 250 UK 
			 Wheeled tankers Marshall Specialist Vehicle Ltd. Under 500 UK 
			 Wheeled tankers Oshkosh Truck Corporation Under 250 USA 
			 Support vehicles Oshkosh Truck Corporation Under 250 USA 
			 Support vehicles Stewart  Stevenson TV Under 250 USA 
			 Support vehicles MAN Truck  Bus UK Ltd. (2)Under 2,000 UK 
			 Support vehicles Mercedes-Benz UK Defence (3) UK 
			 FCLV Alvis Specialist Vehicles(4) 500 UK 
			 FCLV UDLP  (5)USA 
			 FCLV VDS 500 UK 
		
	
	(1) Approximate UK work force numbers
	(2) Includes ERF Ltd. work force
	(3) Figure not available
	(4) Alvis have taken over VDS but at present there is a XChinese wall between the two competing components
	(5) UDLP are setting up a base in the UK. US work force numbers are 5,000

Ministerial Visits

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times he has visited east Lancashire in his official capacity; and what the purpose was of each visit.

Lewis Moonie: None.

Nuclear Weapons Tests

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will offer saliva tests to assess the extent of exposure to radiation experienced by British Service personnel and medical auxiliaries present at atmospheric nuclear weapons tests.

Lewis Moonie: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 408W to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr Weir).

Parliamentary Questions

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the longest gap was between the submission of a written question in the last parliamentary session and his Department providing (a) a substantive reply, (b) a holding reply and (c) a Xwill write response.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Ministers aim to answer named day written questions on the day named and ordinary written questions within five working days.

Young Recruits

Paul Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what advice he has taken on whether the limitation of the right of under 18-year-olds to leave the armed forces if they consider that they have made a mistaken decision to join is compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998.

Lewis Moonie: All three services operate schemes which enable under 18-year-olds to leave the armed forces if they consider that they have made a mistaken decision to join. These schemes were not introduced as a consequence of the Human Rights Act 1998, and indeed the Royal Navy and Army schemes for 'unhappy under-18s' predate it. However, in common with other personnel policies, the schemes remain under review by the Ministry of Defence to ensure that they comply with extant legislation. The Ministry of Defence's position is that schemes do not in any way contravene the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998, given that under-18s, all of whom enter the amed forces voluntarily under their own informed will, have ample rights and opportunities to leave before reaching age 18.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Advertising and Public Awareness

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what advertising campaigns and public awareness campaigns have been undertaken by his Department in each year since 1997, and what the cost was of each company.

Christopher Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was set up on 29 May 2002. Since then the Office has undertaken two advertising and public awareness campaigns: one for fire safety under the title 'Make Your Plan Get Out Alive' at a cost of 2.4m; and one to remind the general public to be extra vigilant about fire safety during the current industrial action by the Fire Brigades' Union, under the title 'Get out, stay out and call 999' with a budget of up to 1.8m.
	For the total budget for the 'Fire Kills' campaign in this fiscal year, I refer the hon Member to the answer given to him on Tuesday 5 November 2002, Official Report, Hansard (column 196W).
	The spend on the fire safety campaign in previous years is as follows:
	
		
			 Year Activity Sponsoring Dept 
		
		
			 2001/02 Excuses kill (Smoke Alarms 1.7m). Cigarette Safety 1.95m DTLR 
			 2000/01 Fire Action Plan 3.3m Home Office 
			 1999/2000 Chip Pan safety 2.4m Home Office 
			 1998/99 General Fire safety 800K Home Office 
			 1997/98 Figures not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost Home Office

Brownfield Sites

Peter Pike: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has further to encourage use of brownfield sites; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: National planning policies encourage the reuse of suitable brownfield sites. Through Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (PPG3) we have introduced new measures, including an urban brownfields first policy, to meet the country's housing needs in the most sustainable way. Planning policies for land recycling are backed by a package of fiscal measures to secure the regeneration and renewal of communities worth 1 billion over 5 years.

EU Structural Funding

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans there are to help with match funding in areas that receive Objective 2 funding.

Tony McNulty: There are a large number of potential sources of match funding in Objective 2 areas. In addition to central Government programmes such as the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, other sources are also available including the RDA single pot, local authorities, voluntary and community sector and private sector sources also provide match funding. A publication listing out the many sources of match funding is widely circulated by Government Offices.
	Clearly as and when new Government programmes are introduced, they can provide additional sources of match funding for projects.

Fire Service

Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many emergency calls in the last 12 months to fire brigades were related to (a) fires and (b) other incidents.

Christopher Leslie: In 2000, the last year for which data are available, of the 1,135,000 emergency calls attended by UK fire brigades, 476,000 (42 per cent.) were related to fires and 658,000 (58 per cent.) were related to other incidents.
	The other incidents category comprises false fire alarms (460,000 or 41 per cent. of all emergency calls) and special services incidents, including road traffic accidents and lift rescues (198,000 or 17 per cent of all emergency calls).
	The figures shown here differ very slightly from those given in answers to two earlier parliamentary questions (Official Report, 21 October 2002, column 59W and Official Report, 19 November 2002, column 84W), as the Scottish Executive has subsequently supplied revised special service incident figures for financial year 200001.

Fire Service

Llew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) statutory and (b) other role fire brigades have in relation to (i) risk reduction and risk management in relation to non-fire emergencies, (ii) community fire safety and fire reductions, (iii) fire safety enforcement and (iv) emergency preparedness against terrorist, biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear threats.

Nick Raynsford: The roles that fire authorities have in relation to the activities listed include:
	(i) Under section 3(1)(e) of the Fire Services Act 1947 a fire authority may Xemploy the fire brigade maintained by them, or use any equipment so maintained, for purposes other than fire-fighting purposes for which it appears to the authority to be suitable . . .. In the exercise of this power fire authorities take into account the deployment of resources to manage and reduce risk in relation to non-fire emergencies.
	(ii) Among other duties of fire authorities under section 1(1) of the 1947 Act, section 1(1)(f) makes it a duty to secure Xefficient arrangements for the giving, when requested, of advice in respect of buildings and other property in the area of the fire authority as to fire prevention, restricting the spread of fires, and means of escape in case of fire. In addition, authorities undertake on a non-statutory basis such activities as fire safety education, community-based risk assessments, arson reduction initiatives and smoke alarm installation programmes.
	(iii) Fire authorities currently enforce the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 as amended by the Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999. Under the 1971 Act fire authorities are empowered to issue fire certificates that relate to categories of premises designated by the Secretary of State in two orders. The first covers hotels and boarding houses and the second deals with factories, offices, shops and railway premises Under the 1997 Regulations, as amended, fire authorities are empowered to assess the adequacy of the fire risk assessment made by an employer in respect of the employer's premises. Fire authorities are also consulted on the adequacy of fire precautions by local authorities, which are the enforcing authorities for licensing purposes and in respect of houses in multiple occupation.
	(iv) The Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations 1993 give the metropolitan fire and civil defence authorities, including the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, the function of assisting the boroughs in their emergency planning arrangements, specifically by assisting with training and exercises. The Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 places fire and civil defence authorities under a duty to prepare and maintain emergency plans to deal with the off-site effects of a major accident. Fire authorities generally participate in co-ordinating emergency response with other agencies. In addition, under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and the Department of Health in January 2002, fire authorities were encouraged to secure effective co-operation with health service agencies on mass decontamination: each fire authority was asked to draw up a local agreement facilitating the delegation of operations from the local ambulance service.

Fire Service

Llew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is his policy that fire resources should be co-ordinated on a regional or sub-regional basis.

Nick Raynsford: Fire services are provided locally by 50 fire authorities in England and Wales. We actively encourage wider collaboration, both between fire authorities and with other emergency services.
	The Independent Review of the Fire Service under the chairmanship of Professor Sir George Bain will, as part of its terms of reference, inquire into and make recommendations on the future organisation and management of the fire service. We await the report which Sir George hopes to be able to publish in December 2002.

Fire Service

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the recent firemen's strike.

Nick Raynsford: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister made statements to the House on 22 October, Official Report, column 125, 14 November 2002, Official Report, column 140, 21 November, Official Report, columns 88586 and 26 November 2002, Official Report, columns 16568. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will keep the House of Commons fully informed.

Fire Service

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the terms of reference for the Bain Review of the Fire Service took into account the findings of the Pathfinder trials; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: Yes. The terms of reference of the Independent Review of the Fire Service require it, among other things, to inquire into and make recommendations on the future organisation and management of the Fire Service to undertake the full range of responsibilities that are appropriate to it; to enable it to respond effectively to all the operational demands that may be placed upon it; and to enable the responsibilities of the Fire Service to be delivered with optimum efficiency and effectiveness.
	The Fire Service needs to take an integrated approach to reducing and mitigating the risks from fires and other emergencies. Pathfinder trials have been undertaken in 11 brigades to develop working procedures and to assess the practicality and cost of implementing risk-based fire cover and greater flexibility of response. The findings of the trials have been made available to the Review.

Fire Service

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of fire cover requirements where the risk to life is rated higher than that to property, before establishing the Pathfinder trials.

Christopher Leslie: No such assessment could be made. The Pathfinder trials were commissioned to see what would be involved in practice in moving to a risk-based system of fire cover. The methods of risk assessment were developed as part of the trials, not before.

Local Government (Parishes)

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures have been taken to strengthen the parish tier of local government.

Christopher Leslie: Recent measures to strengthen the parish tier of local government include:
	increasing the amount local councils can spend per elector under Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972, on matters that will have a direct benefit on their communities, from 3.50 to 5.00;
	2 million Government funding over three years to help the Countryside Agency and NALC develop a national training strategy for parish councillors and clerks;
	reducing the accounting and audit burden on parishes following the introduction of the Xlighter touch audit;
	the introduction of a new ethical framework, including new codes of conduct to promote the highest standards of conduct in parish and town councils; anda wide-ranging consultation on proposals for a Quality Parish and Town Council scheme which we are now working with NALC and others to establish.

Local Government (Parishes)

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued on the remuneration of parish clerks.

Christopher Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not issued any guidance on the remuneration of parish clerks, which is a matter for each local council.

Local Government (Parishes)

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which Minister has responsibility for parish councils; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister assisted by my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich and I are responsible for policy and legislation on English parish and town councils. We share these responsibilities with our Right Honourable and Honourable Friends who have responsibility for those service and policy objectives which parish councils can help to deliver.

Mobile Phone Masts

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many mobile phone masts have been constructed in England and Wales, in each year since 1997 in each local authority area.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold the information requested centrally.
	However, all mobile phone antennas are registered with the Radiocommunications Agency. Information on the location and ownership of the antennas is available on the Agency's Site Finder database at www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk The site is updated every three months.

Public Highways

Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what procedure an applicant must undertake to seek the permanent closure of areas of the public highway to prevent use by motorised vehicles; and what action is open to opponents to seek to prevent such an order being granted.

David Jamieson: holding answer 25 November 2002
	I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to him today (PQ ref. 82465).

Referendums

Graham Brady: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on the use of public funds to support campaigns for (a) referendums on regional government and (b) a particular outcome in a referendum campaign.

Nick Raynsford: This is a matter for the Electoral Commission under the provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (sections 108110 and schedule 12); or, if pertaining to a local authority publicity campaign relating to regional referendums, a matter for the Code on Local Authority Publicity which my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has issued under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986.

Regional Government

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of the headquarters for a regional government in the North West of England; and what the breakdown of this sum is broken down by budget heads.

Christopher Leslie: The Government has made no estimate of the cost of a headquarters for a regional government in the North West of England. As paragraph 6.7 of the Government's White Paper on Regional Governance says, it will be for an assembly to decide on the best way to meet its accommodation requirements, including the location of its headquarters.

Regional Government

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of the initial start-up costs of regional government in the North West of England; and what the breakdown of this sum is broken down by main budget heads.

Christopher Leslie: The costs of establishing elected regional assemblies will vary from region to region, mainly because of different sizes of their electorates. We expect them all to fall in a range around 15 million to 30 million a region, including the costs of a referendum and of the first assembly elections. The North West is likely to fall towards the upper end of this range.

Regional Government

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) holding and (b) promoting a referendum on regional government in the North West of England.

Christopher Leslie: Paragraph 69 of the Explanatory Notes to the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill says that the cost of a referendum may range from about 2m in the North East to about 6m in the South East.
	With regard to the costs associated with the promotion of a referendum in the North West, that would be a matter for the Electoral Commission under the provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (sections 108110 and schedule 12); or, if pertaining to a local authority publicity campaign relating to regional referendums, a matter for the Code on Local Authority Publicity which my Rt. Hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has issued under section 4 of the Local Government Act 1986.

Regional Government

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the administrative costs of (a) regional development agencies, (b) government offices for the regions and (c) regional chambers were, in each region in (i) 200001, (ii) 200102 and (iii) 200203.

Christopher Leslie: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Regional Development Agencies' administrative costs for 200001 and 200102, together with estimates for 200203, are set out in the following table:
	
		Thousand
		
			 RDAs administrative costs 200001 spend 200102 spend 200203 forecast expenditure 
		
		
			 North East 10,463 11,603 16,722 
			 North West 14,476 15,004 19,921 
			 Yorkshire 8,284 10,354 14,750 
			 East Midlands 7,213 7,488 10,467 
			 West Midlands 8,352 9,083 13,500 
			 East 4,710 5,925 7,245 
			 South East 6,343 7,143 12,839 
			 South West 8,380 9,099 13,975 
			 London 5,354 9,805 14,044 
		
	
	(b) The Government Offices' administrative costs for 200001 and 200102, together with estimates for 200203, are set out in the following table :
	
		
			 GO 200001 spend 200102 spend 200203 forecast expenditure 
		
		
			 North East 8,197.33 8,973.88 8,658.69 
			 North West 13,651.03 15,250.91 13,852.48 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 9,357.21 9,889.50 9,520.69 
			 West Midlands 9,960.77 10,315.96 9,213.41 
			 East Midlands 7,335.77 8,200.80 7,395.22 
			 East 7,542.50 8,532.82 7,704.08 
			 South East 9,477.27 10,309.34 9,249.80 
			 South West 8,711.39 10,671.85 9,418.63 
			 London 13,860.98 13,175.10 12,215.67 
			 Totals 88,094.25 95,320.16 87,228.67 
		
	
	(c) Regional Chambers are not Government bodies. They receive funding from a variety of sources, primarily the participating local authorities. The Government have agreed to provide a contribution towards their costs for the next three years, starting in 200203. This equates to 600,000 per Chamber15 million in total across all the regions over the three year period.

Regional Planning

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received on the likely effect of the draft Regional Planning Guidance on the Warrington area; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) Proposed Changes to Draft Regional Planning Guidance for the North West were published in May 2002, and the closing date for comments was 16 August 2002, 201 organisations responded to the consultation, and a total of 1,825 individual comments were made on the whole of Draft RPG. Of this total, 38 comments were on the Warrington area. Organisations that responded included the North West Development Agency, North West Regional Assembly, Warrington Borough Council, Council for the Protection of Rural England, and the Omega Joint Venture Partnership.

Second Homes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the number of second homes claiming a council tax discount in each local authority area in (a) Devon, (b) Cornwall, (c) Somerset and (d) Dorset.

Tony McNulty: The following tables set out the number of second homes (defined as furnished and no-one's main residence) entitled to the 50 per cent. council tax discount as at November 2001,as reported by local authorities.
	Some authorities have been unable to report reliable information on their number of second homes. These authorities are indicated in the tables by 'no estimate'.
	
		(a) Devon
		
			 Local authority name Number of second homes 
		
		
			 East Devon 2,431 
			 Exeter No estimate 
			 Mid-Devon 301 
			 North Devon 914 
			 South Hams 4,597 
			 Teignbridge 1,396 
			 Torridge No estimate 
			 West Devon No estimate 
			 Plymouth UA No estimate 
			 Torbay U A 1,576 
		
	
	
		(b) Cornwall
		
			 Local authority name Number of second homes 
		
		
			 Caradon 1,461 
			 Carrick No estimate 
			 Kerrier 1,530 
			 North Cornwall 4,095 
			 Penwith No estimate 
			 Restormel 1,741 
			 Isles of Scilly UA 248 
		
	
	
		(c) Somerset
		
			 Local authority name Number of second homes 
		
		
			 Mendip 365 
			 Sedgemoor 404 
			 South Somerset 608 
			 Taunton Deane 362 
			 West Somerset 1,058 
			 Bath and North-east Somerset UA 79 
			 Bristol UA 201 
			 North Somerset UA No estimate 
		
	
	
		(d) Dorset
		
			 Local authority name Number of second homes 
		
		
			 Christchurch No estimate 
			 East Dorset 280 
			 North Dorset No estimate 
			 Purbeck 887 
			 West Dorset 1,597 
			 Weymouth and Portland 618 
			 Bournemouth UA 1,583 
			 Poole UA No estimate 
		
	
	Source:
	CTBl(S)form.

Social Housing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households are in the registered social housing landlord sector.

Tony McNulty: Housing associations registered with the Housing Corporation house 3,037 million tenants in 1.6 million dwellings.

South West of England Regional Development Agency

Adrian Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many offices the South West Regional Development Agency has outside the UK; how many people are employed in these offices; and what the annual budget is for the overseas offices operated by the agency.

Alan Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
	The South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) has one physical office outside the UK in Tokyo, where there are three staff and the budget for which is 325,000 in the current year. SWRDA also has five people in the USA in three locations (three people in Chicago; and one in each of Boston and San Francisco) but these are not physical offices. The budget for the US team is 495,000 for the current year.
	SWRDA is also contributing 160,000 this year to the South West UK Brussels office.

Swaminarayan Hindu Mission (Brent)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from the Swaminarayan Hindu Mission concerning their dispute with Brent Council; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: I am not aware of any representation received by the office of the Deputy Prime Minister from the Swaminarayan Hindu mission.

Wakefield Metropolitan District

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the retained capital receipts from the sale of council houses by Wakefield metropolitan district council at May 1997; how much has been released since that date and what the value is of unreleased receipts.

Tony McNulty: The cumulative net selling price of council housing stock reported by Wakefield MDC between April 1980 and March 1997 was some 118 million. Under capital finance regulations, 25 per cent. of capital receipts arising from stock sales (excluding the value of any related local authority mortgages) are classified as a usable, while the balance is required to be 'set aside' as provision for credit liabilities. Between April 1997 and March 2002, Wakefield reported a further 54 million generated by stock sales.
	Allocations to Wakefield under the Capital Receipts Initiative between 199798 and 19992000 totalled 9.652 million. In addition, Wakefield applied 9.671 million of its usable housing capital receipts (including those arising from the sale of other assets) to fund its housing capital programmes between 199798 and 200102.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Higher Education Finance

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the capital requirements of higher education institutions.

Margaret Hodge: There have been three linked studies into the capital requirements of higher education institutions, covering science research infrastructure, teaching and learning, and arts and humanities. These reports concluded that there were shortfalls of 3.2 billion of investment in science research, 5.3 billion in teaching and learning and 0.5 billion in arts and humanities.

Primary Schools

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the value of target-setting in primary schools.

Stephen Twigg: The value of target setting is evident from the part it has played in the unprecedented success of primary schools in raising standards of literacy and numeracy. Since the introduction of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies schools have achieved a 10 per cent. point improvement in the number of 11-year-olds achieving the expected level in English, and 14 per cent. point improvement in mathematics. This year's results taken together were the best ever.

Top-up Fees

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his policy on the introduction of top-up fees for higher education.

Margaret Hodge: I refer the hon. Member to the oral reply given earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Mr. Illsley), Official Report, column 448.

School Exclusions

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his policy on school exclusions.

Stephen Twigg: The Department's Circular 10/99Social Inclusion: Pupil Support contains the Secretary of State's guidance on the appropriate use of exclusionboth fixed term and permanent, procedures to be followed on exclusion and provides guidance on the duties and roles of those involved in the process. My right hon. Friend will issue revised guidance when new arrangements for exclusions are put in place under the Education Act 2002.

Maths Teachers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on progress towards the Government's targets for recruiting trainee mathematics teachers in 2002.

David Miliband: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis), on 18 November 2002, Official Report, column 32W.

Universities

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to assist United Kingdom universities to become centres of excellence.

Margaret Hodge: There is already excellence within our universitiesin research, teaching, linking with business and working in the community. We want to make sure that excellence is recognised, incentivised and rewarded. Our Strategy Document, to be published in January, will set out in detail how we propose to do this.

Universities

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations he has received about the special payments to universities in respect of pupils resident in specified postcode areas.

Margaret Hodge: My right hon. Friend receives representations about a range of higher education issues. Universities and colleges incur additional costs in recruiting, teaching and supporting students from non-traditional backgrounds. The funding they receive from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in respect of these costs is the 'postcode premium'. HEFCE is currently reviewing this funding and has consulted on a range of options.

Universities

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to change the minimum full time salary level paid to a university lecturer after five years service.

Margaret Hodge: The pay of higher education staff is negotiated between employers, their staff and their representative trade union bodies. This is not an issue for the Government, but in the spending review for the years 200102, 200203 and 200304 we provided 330 million to underpin universities' human resource strategies. This was to help institutions recruit, retain and develop the staff they need to improve further the quality of teaching and learning and to modernise management and reward systems.

Universities

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he will take to ensure that there is an increase in the number of university students from low income backgrounds.

Margaret Hodge: We are determined to encourage more young people from lower income backgrounds to enter higher education. Our secondary school reforms will help raise participation and attainment levels so that more young people will be eligible to benefit from higher education. We have committed over 190 million over three years to the Excellence Challenge to raise aspirations and attainment of young people in some of the most deprived areas of the country. This includes making available 25,000 Opportunity Bursaries to encourage young students from low-income families into higher education. Young people in schools and further education colleges in Excellence Challenge areas continue to benefit from the AimHigher road show, which was launched earlier this year to promote higher education.
	Our review of higher education which will be published in January will reflect our continued commitment to widening participation in higher education.

Schools (Regulation)

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he next expects to meet representatives of teacher unions to discuss the burden of regulation in schools.

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with teachers' representatives on the number of directives issued to schools since 1997.

David Miliband: I will be meeting representatives of teacher unions shortly to discuss our work force proposals. These include the establishment of an Implementation Review Unit, featuring a panel of experienced serving practitioners, to improve policy implementation and reduce bureaucratic burdens.

Young Carers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice he has given schools in order to accommodate the particular needs of young carers, while at the same time, pursuing their careers at schools.

Stephen Twigg: Advice on how to support young carers at school has been provided to schools in DfES circular 10/99.
	It recommends that schools:
	adopt flexible strategies to address the young carers' needs e.g. approve absence when needed and set work to avoid gaps in education;
	work with statutory and voluntary agencies to identify specific problems and offer solutions; and
	designate a member of staff to take responsibility for young carers.

Higher Education Funding

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for the funding of higher education.

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for funding of universities.

Margaret Hodge: We will publish a strategy document setting out our 10-year vision for the development and reform of higher education in January. It would not be right for me to say now exactly what is or is not planned.

School Funding

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) average amounts paid to English local authorities and (b) amount paid to Leeds education authority per pupil were in respect of (i) educational standard spending, (ii) standards fund and (iii) other special and specific grants in each of the last three years.

David Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Education Act

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools he expects to apply for new freedoms under the Education Act 2002; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Department has no preconceived idea of the number of applications for new freedoms that will be received. It is intended that schools should be in the lead in making proposals.
	We have always made clear that we intend to consult widely on the criteria for exemptions related to school performance before regulations are laid. Subject to consultation, we envisage linking the criteria to those that Ofsted propose to use for standard inspections.

School Staff

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the levels of staff turnover in schools in the South East in the last 12 months.

David Miliband: The table shows the latest available turnover and wastage data for the South East Government Office Region.
	
		Turnover and wastage rates of qualified teachers, 19992000 (provisional) -- Percentage
		
			  Full-time Part-time(6)  
			  Turnover rate(7) Wastage rate(8) Turnover rate(9) Wastage rate(10) 
		
		
			 South East Government Office Region 17.2 10. 4 32.1 27.8 
		
	
	(6) 1020 per cent. of part-time teachers may not be included in the data.
	(7) Full-time turnover is defined as all teachers in full-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in full-time service in the same establishment on 31 March 2000. Turnover therefore includes wastage, transfers to other establishments within the maintained schools sector and teachers leaving to part-time service. Not all employers record all movements between their schools so turnover rates may be underestimated.
	(8) Full-time wastage is defined as all teachers in full-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in full-time service anywhere in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 2000. This includes teachers leaving to part-time service.
	(9) Part-time turnover is defined as all teachers in part-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in part-time service in the same establishment on 31 March 2000. Turnover therefore includes wastage, transfers to other establishments within the maintained schools sector and teachers leaving to full-time service.
	(10) Part-time wastage is defined as all teachers in part-time service in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 1999 who were not in part-time service anywhere in the maintained schools sector on 31 March 2000. This includes teachers leaving to full-time service.
	Note:
	More recent data, for wastage/turnover up to March 2001, are available at national level but the data are not yet sufficiently complete for regional analysis.
	Source:
	Database of Teacher Records.
	There has been a net increase in the number of teachers in the South East region. The full-time equivalent number of regular teachers in the maintained sector rose from 61,800 in January 2001 to 63,500 in January 2002.
	The South East region includes: Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, West Berkshire, Reading, Slough, Wokingham, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, East Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Kent, Medway, Oxfordshire, Surrey, West Sussex.

Food Technology

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will introduce Food Technology into the National Curriculum; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: Food technology is part of the design and technology curriculum and is therefore already a statutory entitlement for all primary pupils within the National Curriculum. They learn practical food handling skills, including food hygiene, and are encouraged to develop positive attitudes to food. At Key Stage 3, the Government strongly encourages secondary schools to offer pupils the opportunity to study food technology, and nearly 90 per cent. do so. Food, nutrition and healthy eating are also taught within science and personal, social and health education.

School Transport

Paul Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the variation in school transport costs between different local education authority areas in (a) 200203 and (b) 200304.

David Miliband: The variation in spend on home to school transport between local education authorities was considered in papers to the Education Funding Strategy Group at its meetings on 31 January 2002, and 13 March 2002. In both instances data from 200102 were used to develop a formula for the distribution of funding for home to school transport in the new LEA funding system, to be introduced for 200304.

Schools (Coalfield Communities)

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new schools have been built in coalfield communities since 1997; and how many are planned.

David Miliband: We do not have this information. Local education authorities determine the need for additional places in the maintained sector and, where necessary, build or support the provision of new schools. The Department makes available capital funding for new school places; many of these are provided in existing schools.

Sure Start (Gloucester)

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on Sure Start in Gloucester.

Maria Eagle: There is one Sure Start programme operating in Gloucester, a Round Two programme in Barton, Tredworth and White City that was approved in October 2000, with a catchment area covering 934 children under four.
	It has revenue funding of 2.2 million until March 2004 and capital funding approval, in principle, of 852,000. It operates over six separate sites within the area, linked to local schools, in educational centres.
	The catchment area is situated outside the city centre, bounded by main roads and partially disused railway lines. It serves a diverse community including Afro-Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Ukrainian and Irish groups. There are also a number of asylum seekers settling in the area.
	Home visiting is a key service for the programme, as it is enabling 'hard to reach' people who might not otherwise be supported, to be picked up. It has funded 10 people to complete accredited courses for learning support workers in primary schools and a further two people to take the Further Adult Education Teacher certificate. It has increased the overall number of children using library services. Its parents' forum awards small grants to community organisations (e.g. for new equipment for a parent toddler group or adventure playground) and inputs into the local evaluation of Sure Start.

Graduate Earnings

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the average lifetime earnings of (a) graduates and (b) non-graduates.

Margaret Hodge: We estimate that the average lifetime earnings of a graduate with a first degree are just over 1 million.
	This is based on current labour market conditions, using data from the Labour Force Survey.
	The estimated average for the working population as a whole is around 675,000, and it would be significantly lower than this for non-graduates.

School Buildings (Private Finance Initiative)

Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on private finance initiatives in school buildings in Cheshire.

David Miliband: Cheshire County Council signed a schools PFI contract with the Eric Wright Group on 22 October, covering a number of schools in Ellesmere Port. The project will rebuild or modernise five primary schools, provide sports and drama facilities at one secondary school and provide additional community facilities. The project is supported by 16.1 million in PFI credits from the Department for Education and Skills for the educational facilities, and by 1 million in PFI credits from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the community facilities.

Secondary Education

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of English students completed upper secondary education in the last year for which figures are available.

David Miliband: holding answer 25 November 2002
	The information available is not held centrally.

EU Education Benchmarks

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many extra sixth form higher education and further education places will be required in England by 2010 to meet the EU education benchmarks.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 25 November 2002
	The structure and organisation of education systems is the responsibility of individual EU member states. There are no education benchmarks at EU level that we are required to meet. Education Ministers will consider next year whether or not to use some existing international indicators and/or benchmarks to help share and spread best practice in education.

EU Education Benchmarks

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the additional spending required in England to meet EU educational benchmarks.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 25 November 2002
	The structure and organisation of education systems is the responsibility of individual EU member states. There are no education benchmarks at EU level that we are required to meet. Education Ministers will consider next year whether or not to use some existing international indicators and/or benchmarks to help share and spread best practice in education.

Home Education (Somerset)

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils of school age were educated at home in each age group in (a) Somerset and (b) Taunton in each of the last five years.

David Miliband: The available information is shown in the table:
	
		Number of pupils not in school and being otherwise educated 19982002
		
			  Somerset Local Education Authority England  
			  Pupils aged 510 Pupils aged 1115 Pupils aged 16+ Total Pupils aged 510 Pupils aged 1115 Pupils aged 16+ Total 
		
		
			 1998 71 234 9 314 2,462 10,587 545 13,594 
			 1999 83 308 5 396 2,232 11,351 422 14,005 
			 2000 93 344 3 440 2,825 12,264 585 15,670 
			 2001 24 337 1 362 3,037 12,843 427 16,307 
			 2002 64 119 19 202 3,361 15,187 386 18,934 
		
	
	The available figures record for each local education authority the number of pupils not in school and being otherwise educated under arrangements made by the authority. As well as covering pupils taught at home, this includes but does not separately identify, traveller children and asylum seekers at further education colleges or with voluntary providers. It does not however include pupils who are being educated at home through parental choice and independent of local education authority arrangements.

Illegal Immigrants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his officials have made of the (a) number and (b) cost of children in this country receiving state education (i) who do not have the legal rights to settle in the UK and (ii) whose parents are illegal immigrants.

Stephen Twigg: The requested information is not collected centrally.
	All children are entitled to education regardless of their immigration status.
	Local education authorities receive funding for these children in the same way that they do for other children on school rolls. Other financial support is available through the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant for help with the provision of English as an additional language and through a one-off grant for children of asylum seekers supported by schools in the dispersal areas.

Learning and Skills Councils

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many and what percentage of members of (a) each local learning and skills council and (b) the National Learning and Skills Council declare a record of political activity, broken down by party.

Margaret Hodge: Appointments to the LSC have been made through fair and open competition, in complete accordance with guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). Working with the LSC we have sought to attract applications from individuals with a wide range of appropriate experience, regardless of any political affiliation they may have. Information is provided in the table below and shows those Council members who have declared a political interest. This does not necessarily mean that individuals are or have been politically active; they have simply declared an affiliation to a political party. These figures exclude the Executive Directors of LLSCs since they were not required to declare political activity when applying for these posts.
	Figures in brackets show the number of local authority councillors.
	
		
			 Local LSC Labour Conservative Liberal democrat Others 
		
		
			 North East 
			 County Durham 1   1 
			 Northumberland 1
			 Tees Valley 4(1) 1   
			 Tyne and Wear 3(1)
			  East Midlands 
			 Derbyshire 6(2)
			 Leicestershire 3
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland 1  1(1) 1 
			 Northamptonshire 1(1) 1(1)   
			 Nottinghamshire 3(2) 1   
			  Yorkshire and Humberside  
			 South Yorkshire 4(2)
			 North Yorkshire  2(2)   
			 Humberside 1(1)
			 West Yorkshire 3(1)
			  West Midlands 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 5(1)
			 The Black Country 2(1)
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 2(1)  1  
			 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 2(1)
			 Shropshire 2  1(1) 1 
			 Staffordshire 4(1)
			 North West 
			 Cheshire/Warrington   1  
			 Cumbria 2(1)
			 Lancashire 4(1)
			 Greater Manchester 4(1)
			 Greater Merseyside 4  1(1)  
			 South West 
			 Devon and Cornwall   1(1)  
			 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole   2(1)  
			 Gloucestershire 2
			 Somerset 1 1 1(1)  
			 Wiltshire and Swindon 1(1) 2(2) 1  
			 The West of England 2(1)
			  East of England 
			 Bedfordshire and Luton 4(1)
			 Cambridgeshire   1(1) 1 
			 Essex 3(1) 2(1) 1  
			 Hertfordshire 1 1(1)   
			 Norfolk 2(1) 1   
			 Suffolk 3(2) 1(1)   
			 South East 
			 Berkshire None Declared  
			 Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and IOW 1
			 Kent and Medway 2(1) 3(1)   
			 Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Bucks 3(1)
			 Surrey 1 1(1)   
			 Sussex 2(1)
			 London 
			 London Central 3(1) 3   
			 London East 4(2)
			 London North 3(1)
			 London South 2 1(1)   
			 London West 3
		
	
	Of the 15 members appointed to the National Council, 6 declared political activity with the Labour Party, 1 of whom is a local councillor. There were no declarations with respect to other parties.

Modern Apprenticeships

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many modern apprenticeship places were taken up in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001; and how many were left vacant.

Ivan Lewis: The number of starts on modern apprenticeships (Foundation and Advanced) in 2000 and 2001 are shown in the table:
	
		
			  AMA FMA 
		
		
			 26 December 1999 to 24 December 2000 76,900 94,200 
			 25 December 2000 to 23 December 2001 64,400 110,500 
		
	
	Numbers of Modern Apprenticeships left vacant are not available.

Modern Apprenticeships

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to increase the take-up of modern apprenticeships.

Ivan Lewis: The Government and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) are wholly committed to modern apprenticeships (MA) as a quality work-based learning route for young people. We have adopted a challenging Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for MA entrants by 200428 per cent. of young people to begin an MA by the age of 22.
	The Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and the Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council have announced a new modern apprenticeship task force which will take a key role in promoting MA to employers and thereby contributing to increased take-up.
	All parties involved in the initiative are working together to increase the take-up of MAs. The LSC is running a marketing and promotion campaign with a range of measures to reach employers and key influencers, following its successful campaign targeting young people. Connexions Partnerships are delivering improved advice and guidance to young people on the opportunities available in their communities. New and developing sector skills councils also play a key role by supporting promotion to employers in their sectors.

Pilot and Pathfinder Schemes (Isle of Wight)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for which pilot and pathfinder schemes the Isle of Wight council was eligible to apply.

Stephen Twigg: No LEAs were invited to participate in the schools Peer Mentoring Pack pilot, as it is school based. However, Medina High School (Isle of Wight) is involved in piloting the schools peer mentoring pack during the school year 200203. Also, Carisbrooke High School (Isle of Wight) will be invited to take part in the second round of the peer mentoring pilot. The second phase of the roll-out will take place in the new year.
	No schools in the Isle of Wight fell within the definition for Schools Facing Extremely Challenging Circumstances, therefore, none have been invited to participate in the project, nor have any been invited to participate in the Zoneparcs project, as none met the deprivation criteria for this project.
	Isle of Wight LEA was not invited to participate in the Excellence in Cities programme, which covers Learning Mentors, enhanced opportunities for the Gifted and Talented and the Excellence in Cities Primary Pilot. Appropriate LEAs were identified by the Department, there was no application process.
	As the Isle of Wight did not meet the defined criteria it is not participating in the Pupil Learning Credits pilot, nor was the Isle of Wight council invited to participate in the School Partnerships for Improvement pilot, or the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) pilot scheme, as no schools met the defining criteria.

Prison Education

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what activities are being undertaken by his Department to promote the take-up of education in prisons; what incentives exist within the penal system to encourage the take-up of education by prisoners; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 25 November 2002
	We are improving both the quality and quantity of prison education to bring more prisoners into learning and to ensure they benefit from it. The prison education budget will rise to 87 million next yearan increase of almost 50 per cent. in real terms over last year. This includes investment of 20 million capital over the next two years to support the modernisation of education and training provision including transforming prison libraries so that they become learning resource centres. And it includes a further 2 million in computer training opportunities to help prepare prisoners for the demands of the modern labour market. We are also helping prison establishments to expand the range of environments in which they can offer learning.
	Governors have to ensure that the rates of pay they set do not discourage prisons from participating in activities, which are part of their sentence or learning plan. Through the XIncentives and Earned Privileges scheme, some Governors have developed ways of incentivising and rewarding educational progress and achievement. At the same time, the Prison Service order on XEducation in Prisons sets out the statutory requirement on how education must be provided. It states that all prisons must provide activities in a range of ways, which respond to the individual needs of the learners.

Pupil-Teacher Ratios

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will rank education authorities in England the most recent pupil/teacher ratios for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

David Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Revenue Grants (Warrington)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the likely impact on education in Warrington of each of the five options in the consultation on the review of revenue grant distribution.

David Miliband: The Government has been carefully considering all the suggestions put to us in response to the consultation, including the F40 Group's suggestion of an Option 5. We will announce decisions on the new funding system early next month.

School Exclusions (Essex)

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils were excluded from schools in Essex in each year since 1997.

Stephen Twigg: The available information on permanent exclusions is shown in the table. Figures are not available centrally on fixed-term exclusions.
	
		Number of permanent exclusions in primary(11), secondary(11) and special schools in the academic years 199697 to 200001Essex Local Education Authority
		
			  Essex(12) Essex(13) 
		
		
			 199697 
			 Number of permanent exclusions 276 (14) 
			 Percentage of the school population 0.12 (14) 
			  
			 199798   
			 Number of permanent exclusions (14) 207 
			 Percentage of the school population (14) 0.11 
			  
			 199899   
			 Number of permanent exclusions (14) 191 
			 Percentage of the school population (14) 0.10 
			  
			 19992000   
			 Number of permanent exclusions (14) 182 
			 Percentage of the school population (14) 0.09 
			  
			 200001   
			 Number of permanent exclusions (14) 198 
			 Percentage of the school population (14) 0.10 
		
	
	(11) Includes middle schools as deemed
	(12) Before Local Government Reorganisation
	(13) After Local Government Reorganisation
	(14) Not applicable
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

School Leavers (Coalfields)

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of children left school with no academic qualifications in coalfield areas in each year since 1997; and how this compares with the national average.

David Miliband: The information requested is given in the table:
	
		Percentage of 15 year old pupils attaining no passes at GCSE / GNVQ
		
			  2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 
		
		
			 Coalfieldsmaintained Schools 5.9 6.1 6.2 7.2 8.7 
			 Englandmaintained schools 5.1 5.0 5.5 6.1 7.3 
			 Englandall schools 5.5 5.6 6.0 6.6 7.7 
		
	
	Note
	The definition of a coalfield area taken from the coalfields task force report, June 1998, is: a ward where 10 per cent. of resident males in employment at the time of the 1981 census of population were engaged in the energy and water sector. In these areas, this sector overwhelmingly comprises coalmining.

School Standards

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when (a) heads were able to cease following orders, (b) school performance failure was most recently unchallenged, (c) the school curriculum was most recently not publicly scrutinised and (d) school accountability was weak as stated in Education and Skills: Investment for Reform.

David Miliband: The Government document Investment for Reform sets out clearly the changes under way in the education system.

Post-16 Students

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on shared delivery of education between schools and sixth form colleges and further education colleges for post-16 students.

Ivan Lewis: The Government expects schools, colleges and all providers in the learning and skills sector to work together to raise standards, improve choice and ensure success for all post-16 learners. Improving this collaborative working is a key theme in the Government's ambitious plan for reform of further education and trainingSuccess for Allwhich was launched on 19 November. We are supporting this reform package with the largest ever investment in the learning and skills sector, which will enable the Learning and Skills Council to reduce substantially the current gap in the core funding rates per qualification it pays to school sixth forms and FE colleges.
	A key part of these reforms is the programme of Strategic Area Reviews led by local Learning and Skills Councils, which will commence in April 2003. This process will help build in each part of the country a network of providers working in collaboration to achieve educational and economic success.
	We have also begun our pilot of the first sixteen 14 to 19 pathfinder areas. This programme will explore how a coherent 14 to 19 phase can be delivered nationally in a variety of locations with different social circumstances and different mixes of schools and colleges.

Construction Industry

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his latest estimate is of how many vacancies there are in the construction industry in Leeds.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply. 
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Battle, dated 28 November 2002
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking for information on the latest estimate of the number of vacancies in the construction industry in Leeds.
	The only comprehensive information about current job vacancies analysed by industry is the new monthly enterprisebased ONS Vacancy Survey, which at this stage is being published on an experimental basis. According to this survey there were 20,400 job vacancies in the construction industry on average for the period August to October 2002 for the United Kingdom as a whole. The survey is designed to met users' needs for high quality information about vacancies at national level and, in its present state of development, cannot provide analyses by region or local area.
	The most recently available data from the Jobcentre plus administrative system shows 648 unfilled job vacancies in the construction industry of the Leeds travel-to-work area in April 2001. This figure is not comprehensive as only a proportion of vacancies are notified to Jobcentres. There are no more recent data because publication was deferred in May 2001 due to substantial disortions in the data caused by the introduction of Employer Direct by Jobcentre Plus. This was a major change which involved transferring the vacancy taking process from local Jobcentres to regional customer service centres over the period from April 2001 to January 2002.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Hunting

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will publish the evidence submitted during the consultation process relating to hunting.

Alun Michael: The proceedings referred to have been exemplary in terms of being available to everyone who has an interest in the issue. The three full days of hearings held in Portcullis House in September were (a) open to the public (b) available via live webcast and (c) Published in full transcript within days of the event. In addition video recordings of the three days on 9, 10 and 11 September have been placed in the Library of the House. Transcripts of the public hearings and the presentations made by the expert witnesses are available electronically at www.defra.gov.uk. Copies of these documents together with the evidence submitted to me by organisations, including individual hunts, during the consultation process will be available in the Library of the House.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

European Common Foreign and Security Policy

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy on the development of a European common foreign and security policy.

Denis MacShane: The United Kingdom is committed to a strong EU Common Foreign and Security Policy in order to achieve the objectives set out in Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union, that is to safeguard the common values, fundamental interests, independence and integrity of the Union, to strengthen the security of the Union, to preserve peace and strengthen international security, to promote international cooperation and to develop and consolidate democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

EU Structural Funding

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much EU structural funding was returned to the Commission, by (a) region and (b) organisational sector, between 1994 and 2001.

Denis MacShane: The information requested cannot be obtained except at disproportionate cost. Repayments of EU Structural Funds in the period concerned are largely in respect of pre-1994 programmes rather than the 199499 programmes which do not have to be closed until mid-2003.

European Arrest Warrant

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received concerning the European Arrest Warrant.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has received various pieces of correspondence on the European Arrest Warrant, which have been passed to the Home Office for reply. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs (Mr. Bob Ainsworth) on 26 November 2022, Official Report, column 246W.

European Union

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Dutch Government proposals to reduce the influence of large member states in the European Union.

Denis MacShane: We strongly believe that all member states should have an equal say in shaping the future of Europe. All are equally represented in the convention, as are the accession countries. The ideas produced by the convention will be submitted to an intergovernmental conference for agreement by unanimity.

Gibraltar

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when (a) Ministers and (b) officials last met their Spanish counterparts to discuss Gibraltar; and when they plan to meet next to discuss Gibraltar.

Denis MacShane: The last meeting with Spain under the Brussels Process took place on 4 February 2002. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary last discussed Gibraltar with his Spanish opposite number when they met on 27 September. I discussed Gibraltar in the margins of the EU GAERC with the Spanish Minister for Europe. No date has been set for a further meeting.

EU Migrant Workers

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on protection by member states of migrant workers in Europe.

Denis MacShane: Various European Union regulations, principally Regulations 1612/68 and Regulation 1408/71, set out the fundamental rules for migrant workers with EU citizenship exercising their rights of free movement within the European Union. My Ministerial colleagues are engaged in continuing dialogue with other Member States and the European Commission in improving the effectiveness of these measures, while ensuring these are consistent with the aims of improving mobility and simplification for the citizen and Member States' administrations.

Turkey

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress towards Turkey's accession to the EU.

Denis MacShane: The European Commission's 2002 Regular Report on Turkey described the progress that Turkey has made towards complying with the Copenhagen political criteria, which are a precondition for opening accession negotiations. The Brussels European Council welcomed the important reforms undertaken by the Turkish Government, and said that Turkey's progress had brought forward the prospect of opening accession negotiations. HMG is a strong supporter of Turkey's EU candidature and we look forward to the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey as soon as possible and in accordance with the conditions which all candidates must meet.

Turkey

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with President Erdogan of Turkey since his election to the presidency of Turkey.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), on 20 November. They discussed the AKP's plans for government and their commitment to reform, particularly in the area of human rights. The Foreign Secretary welcomed the new Turkish Government's ambitious programme and underlined the UK's strong support for Turkey's EU candidature and for the role Turkey played in the wider world. The Foreign Secretary also stressed that there was now a unique opportunity ahead of the Copenhagen Summit in December to make progress over European Defence issues, and to resolve the problem of Cyprus on the basis of the UN Secretary-General's recent comprehensive proposals.
	The Foreign Secretary will be travelling to Turkey on 34 December to continue these discussions with the new Turkish Government.

Turkey

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Turkey regarding the number of Turkish Kurd asylum seekers illegally entering the United Kingdom.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not raised immigration with the new Turkish Government. However, discussions between UK and Turkish officials have been taking place for some time on asylum and immigration matters.

HEALTH

Adoption

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the Government plan for voluntary adoption agencies following the Adoption and Children Act 2002.

Jacqui Smith: The Government is aware that voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) make a very significant contribution to the adoption service and play an important supporting role alongside their local authority partners in assessing prospective adopters for both domestic and inter-country adoption. Indeed, statistics prepared by the consortium of voluntary adoption agencies show that in 200102, 604 children were placed for adoption with adopters approved by 26 of their member agencies. This accounts for around 20 per cent of the looked after children likely to have been placed for adoption during that year.
	Many VAAs specialise in finding adoptive placements for the more difficult to place children, including older children, children from ethnic minority groups and those with special needs. Almost a quarter of the 604 children placed for adoption with adopters assessed by VAAs were disabled, developmentally delayed or had special health care needs.
	VAAs also provide choice for adopters, for example some cater for prospective adopters of a particular religious faith, and local authorities and vulnerable children benefit from this choice.
	VAAs also play an important part in the provision of adoption support services. Nearly all VAAs offer support networks and provide a wide variety of support including workshops, therapeutic and social groups and counselling of individuals.
	The Government expects the valuable role played by VAAs to continue and grow under the new Act.

Adoption

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress in increasing the number of children who leave care to be adopted.

Jacqui Smith: The Department's social services performance assessment framework indicators 200102, which were published last week, show that the number of adoptions of looked after children increased from 3,100 in 200001 to 3,400 in 200102a rise of 11 per cent.
	Since the Quality Protects initiative began in 199899, there has been an increase of 1,200 in the annual number of looked after children adopteda rise of almost 55 per cent.
	The Government believe that more can and should be done to promote the wider use of adoption to provide permanent, secure homes for vulnerable children, and have set a public service agreement target to increase by 40 per cent., and if possible, by 50 per cent. of the number of looked after children adopted by 200405 from a baseline of 2,700 in 19992000.

Care Home Inspectors

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) care home inspectors are employed and (b) vacancies there are in each region for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The numbers of inspectors in post by region and the numbers of current vacancies are shown in the table.
	Regions are currently in the process of interviewing for inspectors where it is expected an extra 75100 posts will be filled, further boosting capacity.
	
		
			 Region Establishment WTE Actual headcount Actual WTE Variance Total Staff v. Establishment WTE Offers made Vacancies Percentage vacancies against establishment 
		
		
			 North East 79.49 80.00 76.96 2.53 0.00 2.53 3.18 
			 East Midlands 115.79 113.00 106.36 9.43 0.00 9.43 8.14 
			 South West 201.21 197.00 184.42 16.79 0.00 16.79 8.34 
			 West Midlands 148.27 149.00 137.46 10.81 0.00 10.81 7.29 
			 North West 212.03 193.00 185.03 27.00 0.00 27.00 12.73 
			 London 137.01 125.00 116.08 20.93 0.00 20.93 15.28 
			 South East 268.62 220.00 207.31 61.31 35.00 26.31 9.79 
			 Eastern 128.66 122.00 115.78 12.88 0.50 12.38 9.62 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 137.84 128.00 123.86 13.98 0.00 13.98 10.15 
			 Inspector total 1,428.92 1,327.00 1,253.26 175.66 35.50 140.16 9.81 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Offers made are those that are currently awaiting start dates following the recruitment campaign of July/August.
	2. Regions are currently in the process of interviewing for the current round of inspectors where we expect to fill 75100 posts.
	3. Advert will be going to press on 4 December for any remaining vacancies.

Child Protection

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken since 1997 to develop preventive services to identify children at risk of abuse.

Jacqui Smith: Following the publication of the Cross Cutting Review of Children at Risk for the 2002 Spending Review, the Government recently announced the next steps in developing preventive approaches in services for children and families. Local authorities, the health service, the police and key criminal justice agencies will, for next year, agree local preventive strategies which will build on existing initiatives such as Sure Start, the Children's Fund, Connexions and youth offending teams. The development of local strategies will be supported by Government offices and the inspectorates who, where necessary, will work with the local partners on ensuring that an effective strategy is in place.
	The Government have also announced in the Treasury White Paper on the Spending Review published in July 2002, their intention to pilot new organisational models for managing children's services known as children's trusts. This work will be complemented by the Green Paper on Children at Risk announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in July 2002.

Child Protection

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for local authorities in the UK to put in place area child protection committees to look at safeguarding children.

Jacqui Smith: XWorking Together to Safeguard Children, the Government's guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, published in 1999, states that local authorities, in exercising their social services functions, should ensure that there is an area child protection committee covering their area, which brings together representatives of each of the main agencies and professionals responsible for helping to protect children from abuse and neglect. Area review committees were first established in 1974 and became area child protection committees in 1991. This guidance applies only to England.

Child Protection

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of young children were classified as failing to thrive in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally.
	The category, 'failure to thrive', has not been used in the Government's child protection guidance since 1991. XWorking Together Under the Children Act 1989, which was first published in 1991, and later replaced in 1999 by XWorking Together to Safeguard Childrena Guide to Inter-agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children, narrowed the categories used when placing a child's name on the child protection register. The category of 'failure to thrive' is now, therefore, no longer recommended for use as a child protection register category.

Children in Care (Leeds)

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were in care in Leeds in (a) 1970, (b) 1980, (c) 1990 and (d) 2000; and what percentage these represented of Leeds children.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		The number of children in the care of (or being looked after by) Leeds metropolitan council at 31 March, and the rate per 10,000 children aged under 18 years
		
			 Year Number at 31 March Rate per 10,000 children 
		
		
			 1970 1,015 73 
			 1980 2,000 104 
			 1990 1,365 85 
			 2000 1,275 79 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
	2. Figures for 1970 to 1990 relate to children in care of local authorities under the Children Act 1948, the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 and associated legislation.
	3. Figures for 2000 relate to children being looked after by local councils under the Children Act 1989.

Children's Trusts

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his plans for the role of the children's trusts.

Jacqui Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Mr. Dawson) on 29 October 2002, Official Report, volume 391, column 67980.
	We are currently seeking views of stakeholders to inform our thinking about models that would support the vision of children's trusts we have set out. Pilots will start from April 2003, and we will be issuing a prospectus inviting expressions of interest in December.

Digital Hearing Aids

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts and health authorities are making available digital hearing aids for (a) children and (b) adults.

Jacqui Smith: In order to access the national health service contract for digital hearing aids, trusts must first have in place the appropriate infrastructure, equipment and training. All 20 sites from the first wave of the modernising hearing aid services project regularly supply digital aids.
	The number of second wave sites prescribing digital aids will increase each month so that all 30 will be prescribing by the end of March 2003. In addition, the 17 sites announced on 22 November as receiving the necessary information technology equipment will be in a position to prescribe digital aids from April 2003.
	A list of first wave sites, second wave sites and sites to receive equipment will be placed in the Library.

Doctors' Hours

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assumptions were made concerning doctors' work rotas in the work force modelling undertaken as part of the Wanless Review of the long-term trends affecting the national health service.

John Hutton: The modelling for the Wanless Report was carried out by Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT), using a model that they had developed for forecasting the long-term growth in demand for health care services. The output from this model was converted into work force demand using a model developed within the Department and adapted for the HMT requirements. This model took account of the reduction in average hours worked as a result of the European Working Time Directive and assumed that all medical staff would be working less than 48 hours per week for the national health service by 2009.

European Doctors

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors from Europe the contracts signed by NHS trusts brought to the UK for each trust involved.

John Hutton: holding answer 25 November 2002
	Forty overseas doctors have signed contracts with National Health Service trusts as part of the overseas clinical teams initiative, of whom 24 were from Europe. Central Middlesex is working with one doctor from Italy, one from Ireland and one from Germany. Seven German doctors are working at South Tyneside NHS Trust. Ten French doctors are working at East Somerset NHS Trust. Three French doctors are working at Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust. One German doctor worked at mid-Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust.
	Sixteen South African doctors have been involved in the scheme; four doctors are currently working at Hillingdon Hospital and 12 worked at Morecambe Bay Hospital NHS Trust.

Foundation Trusts

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the 31 acute NHS trusts which indicated in 2001 that they were interested in becoming foundation trusts.

John Hutton: holding answer 26 November 2002
	In June 2002, we asked for expressions of interest in National Health Service foundation trust status from chief executives of NHS trusts awarded three stars in the previous NHS performance ratings announced in September 2001. We received 31 expressions of interest.
	These organisations have not been listed since applications to become NHS foundation trusts will be invited only from acute and specialist NHS trusts that were awarded three stars in the performance ratings announced in July 2002. Of the 31 original expressions of interest, however, more than half retained their three star status in July 2002.
	We will shortly issue a publication that will set out our detailed proposals on establishing NHS foundation trusts. Alongside this, or shortly after publication, we will invite preliminary applications to become NHS foundation trusts.

General Practitioners

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the results of the General Practitioner Recruitment, Retention and Vacancy Survey for 2002 will be published.

John Hutton: The results of the General Practitioner Recruitment, Retention and Vacancy Survey 2002 were published on 19 November 2002.

General Practitioners

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the age distribution of general practitioners at retirement was in each of the past five years.

John Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally. The number of medical general practitioners, in England and Wales who have received a retirement pension before or after age 60 for each of the financial years 1998 to 2002 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Financial year Before age 60 After age 60 Total 
		
		
			 1998 246 406 652 
			 1999 226 381 607 
			 2000 191 279 470 
			 2001 298 473 771 
			 2002 313 439 752

Hospital Admissions (Homeless People)

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were admitted to NHS hospitals whose address was listed as no fixed abode between (a) December 1999 and January 2000, (b) December 2000 and January 2001 and (c) December 2001 and January 2002.

John Hutton: T he table shows the number of admissions to national health service hospitals where place of residence is not known. Admissions involving patients of no fixed abode are not separately identifiable.
	
		
			 Admissions to NHS hospitals where place of residence is not known (including no fixed abode)   
		
		
			  
			  
			 December 1999 to January 2000 3,804 
			 December 2000 to January 2001 4,466 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data in this table are grossed for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data.
	2. Data exclude all healthy newborn babies, as their address is recorded as not known.
	3. Data not yet available for 200102.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Mass Casualties (CBRN Attack)

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements have been made to treat mass casualties arising from a CBRN attack.

John Hutton: holding answer 25 November 2002
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for West Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) on 25 November 2002, Official Report, column 145W.

Mental Health

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in implementing Standard 1 of the National Service Framework for mental health.

Jacqui Smith: Health and social services were set a target to develop and agree local mental health promotion strategies by March 2002. To help support the delivery of this target the Department published XMaking It Happen: A guide to delivering mental health promotion in August 2001. Local services have undertaken a themed review to ascertain progress in developing their strategies. This will, when completed, give a national picture of progress made.

NHS Choice

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to extend NHS choice throughout the country in specialisms only available in London; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The London patient choice pilot has since the beginning of October 2002 offered choice for two ophthalmology procedures where a patient has been on a waiting list for an operation for more than six months. We will be extending that choice in London to include ear, nose and throat, orthopaedics and general surgery from April 2003.
	We are planning to operate equivalent pilots to other parts of the country, and as these pilots are still in the planning stage and funding has not yet been announced, are not able yet to give more details.
	The longer term objective is that by 2006, choice will be routinely offered to all patients nationwide at the stage when the general practitioner decides that a referral to a specialist is needed, for example, the point of booking for the outpatient or equivalent appointment.

Osteopaths

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether those who have attained and passed Government accredited training as an osteopath may call themselves an osteopath.

John Hutton: holding answer 26 November 2002
	Under the Osteopaths Act 1993, only those with a qualification recognised by the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) and approved by the Privy Council may register with the GOsC and therefore, legally call themselves osteopaths. Details of all the qualifications it currently recognises may be obtained from the GOsC.

Delayed Discharges

Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what (a) representations he has received on and (b) assessment he has made of the likely change in host social services facilitating the discharge of patients outside their catchment area, following the introduction of fines for delayed hospital discharge;
	(2)  what impact he expects the introduction of fines for delayed hospital discharge to have on those hospitals with (a) regional specialties and (b) large concentrations of patients from outside their area;
	(3)  what measures he will take to encourage host social services to continue work currently undertaken to facilitate the discharge of patients not in their catchment area;
	(4)  what measures he will take to facilitate the discharge of patients who do not live in the area served by the social services department in the hospital under his proposals to fine local authorities for delayed hospital discharge.

Jacqui Smith: Two councils have raised concerns on this. Under the provisions of the Community Care (Delayed Discharges, etc.) Bill, responsibility for arranging the social care of someone ready for discharge from hospital would rest with the council where the patient lives, rather than the council where the acute hospital trust is based. However, we would expect the relevant social services departments to continue to work together over discharge, as they do now.
	The Bill will ensure that there are financial incentives in place for both local councils and the national health service to ensure that they tackle delayed transfers of care. It will also encourage quicker and better identification of the appropriate council responsible for providing social care services to patients. In particular, this will be of great benefit to specialist hospitals and those that attract patients from some distance away.
	Social workers will, as now, need to be involved in the assessments of patients in acute hospital trusts. This will be re-emphasised in the forthcoming revision of the Hospital Discharge Workbook.

Pulmonary Embolism

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients died from a pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply. 
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Smith dated 28 November 2002
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many NHS patients died from a pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years (93495)
	The available data relate to all deaths occurring in England and Wales. It is not possible to state which of these were to NHS patients, as information on whether or not the deceased was a registered NHS patient is not recorded at death registration. Figures on the total number of deaths certified as due to pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis in England and Wales for each year from 1997 to 2001 are therefore given in the table below.
	Most pulmonary embolisms arise from deep vein thrombosis in the leg, and virtually all deaths from deep vein thrombosis occur as a result of a pulmonary embolism. However, the precise description of this sequence of events leading to death (as provided on the death certificate) effects whether the death is coded as pulmonary embolism or thrombosis. Therefore, a figure combining the two causes is presented in the table to give a complete and consistent picture over time.
	
		Number of deaths from pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis(15), persons, England and Wales, 1997 to 2012
		
			 Calendar year Number of deaths 
		
		
			  
			 1997 6,996 
			 1998 6,992 
			 1999 6,877 
			 2000 7,233 
			 2001 7,207 
		
	
	(15) The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 415.1, 451,.1,451.2, 451.9 and 453.9 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes 126, 180.1 180.2 180.3, 180.9 and 182.9. Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year from 1997 to 2001.

Residential Home Fees

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received concerning his proposed amendment to Regulation 5 of the Care Home Regulations 2001, making it clear to residents what part of their fees relate to nursing, where the funding is coming from, and what part relates to other aspects of care; and if he will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: A total of 47 responses were received by the end of the consultation period. 26 of these were in favour of amending the regulations and 21, mainly from providers and provider organisations, opposed the introduction of the amending regulations.

Severe Mental Illness

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to give legal status to advance statements for people with severe mental illness.

Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on 25 November 2002, Official Report, volume 395, column l43W.

Specialised Healthcare Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what function and powers the strategic health authorities have in (a) monitoring the provision and commissioning of specialised healthcare services and (b) managing the performance of individual primary care trusts.

John Hutton: holding answer 225 November 2002
	The functions of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts in relation to specialised services are set out in the National Health Service (Functions of Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts and Administration Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2002 (Statutory Instrument 2002/2375). Regulation 2(1) of these Regulations defines Xspecialised services. Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations sets out the functions exercisable by primary care trusts, which are to be performance managed by strategic health authorities. Where specialised services commissioning arrangements cross strategic health authority boundaries, the directorate of health and social care facilitates agreement and if necessary, determines disputes.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Jury trial

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to exclude those with a close connection to the justice system from jury service.

Hilary Benn: Under the proposals set out in the Government's White Paper XJustice for All, everyone will be eligible to do jury service, (subject to the requirements of age, electoral registration, residence and disqualification set out in section 1 of the Juries Act 1974) except the mentally ill. This will include those connected with the administration of justice.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to improve procedures for the issue and implementation of Anti-social Behaviour Orders through the courts.

John Denham: holding answer 26 November 2002
	The legislative changes in the Police Reform Act 2002 extend the powers of courts to grant Anti-social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). These, combined with the new guidance, will improve their efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, we are working with the Lord Chancellor's Department, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Judicial Studies Board to raise awareness and understanding of ASBOs, and provide training for magistrates and prosecutors. We will continue to review implementation of ASBO, and will make changes as necessary to ensure they are streamlined and unbureaucratic to use.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there have been in the last 12 months for breach of an anti-social behaviour order in (a) Lancashire, (b) the north-west of England and (c) Wales.

John Denham: The available information, relating to breaches of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs), covers the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2001 and is shown in the table. The analysis covers only those breaches by persons issued with ASBOs during this period and notified to the Home Office.
	
		Persons convicted for breach of anti-social behaviour orders -- Lancashire, north-west England and Wales1 June 2000 to 31 December 2001
		
			  Number of persons convicted 
		
		
			 Lancashire 6 
			 North west England (including Lancashire) 21 
			 Wales 3 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures cover only those proceedings relating to persons issued with ASBOs between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2001 and notified to the Home Office. Persons are counted only once if they breached the same order on more than one occasion.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions there have been in the last 12 months for breach of antisocial behaviour orders in (a) Somerset, (b) South West England and (c) England.

Hilary Benn: The available information, relating to breaches of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs), covers the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2001 and is shown in the table. The analysis covers only those breaches by persons issued with ASBOs during this period and notified to the Home Office. Figures for Somerset only are not available centrally.
	
		Persons convicted for breach of antisocial behaviour orders, Avon and Somerset, South West England and England1 June 2000 to 31 December 2001
		
			  Number of persons convicted 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 5 
			 South West England (including Avon and Somerset) 9 
			 England 122 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures cover only those proceedings relating to persons issued with ASBOs between 1 June 2000 and 31 December 2001 and notified to the Home Office. Persons are counted only once even if they breached the same order on more than one occasion.

Asylum Seekers (Occupied Territories)

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many claims for asylum have been made in the last two years by citizens of Israel who are refusing to serve in the armed forces of Israel in the Occupied Territories;
	(2)  how many claims for asylum have been received in the last two years from Palestinians from the Occupied Territories.

Beverley Hughes: Asylum applications are recorded by nationality only and therefore it is not possible to say how many of the applicants originated from the Occupied Territories. Furthermore, statistics on the reasons behind asylum claims are not compiled. The number of those who applied would therefore be available only by examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.
	Information on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will be available from 29 November 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Magillagan Prison

John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the appropriateness of HMP Magilligan as a holding centre for asylum seekers; and whether it is his policy that asylum seekers should share accommodation with people serving sentences for criminal offences.

Beverley Hughes: Following a review, in 2001, of the detention provision in Northern Ireland it was decided that all immigration detainees in Northern Ireland would be detained only at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry and that Her Majesty's Prison Magilligan would no longer be used for immigration detention.
	Immigration detainees at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry are detained in separate accommodation to convicted prisoners.
	It is our policy to transfer persons detained in Northern Ireland to immigration removal centres on the mainland unless a specific request is made to stay in Northern Ireland, in which case the detainee in question will continue to be held at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police constabularies contributing police officers and civilians to the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina; how many each is seconding; and what the cost is to (a) each constabulary and (b) central government.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply
	The following list gives details of those police constabularies contributing officers to the European Union Police Mission from 1 January 2003. All constabularies are providing one officer unless otherwise indicated.
	Cornwall Avon and Somerset; Bedfordshire; Cheshire x3; City of London; Derbyshire; Devon and ; Dorset; Durham; Gloucestershire; Grampian; Greater Manchester x2; Hampshire x2; Kent; Lancashire; Lincolnshire x2; Mersey side x4; Metropolitan x4; North Wales; North Yorkshire x3; Northamptonshire; South Wales x3; South Yorkshire; Surrey x2; Thames Valley; Warwickshire; West Midlands x6; West Yorkshire x2; Wiltshire
	The constabularies do not incur any costs as a result of seconding officers who are all volunteers and seconded with the agreement of Chief Constables. The full reimbursement of salary to constabularies and the travel, equipment and insurance costs of seconding officers are met by the joint MOD, FCO and DfID Global Conflict Prevention Pool. The cost for next financial year is estimated at just over 3 million .

Cannabis

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to categorise cannabis as a herbal substance.

Bob Ainsworth: The Government welcomes the recent announcement by GW Pharmaceuticals that their advanced clinical trials into the development of a medical preparation of a cannabis-based drug have been successfully completed and that they plan to seek marketing approval for the product from the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) early next year.
	This evaluation by the MCA is one which all prospective new medicines have to go through and is designed to protect public health.
	If product approval is forthcoming, the Government will seek Parliament's approval to make the necessary changes to the law to enable the prescription of cannabis-based medicine at the earliest opportunity. We recognise how eagerly awaited these changes are.

Child Curfews

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child curfew orders have been imposed.

John Denham: Between February 2001, when curfew orders with electronic monitoring were extended to 10 to 15-year-olds, and 31 October 2002 the courts imposed 2,704 orders on young offenders of that age.

Child Rescue Alert

Jimmy Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long the Child Rescue Alert programme will be piloted in Sussex; and what plans there are to extend this scheme to the rest of the UK.

Hilary Benn: Child Rescue Sussex Police was launched on 14 November and will run for six months.
	It is a pilot project sponsored by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and it will be for them to evaluate it and determine the value of extending this scheme. We await with interest the outcome of the evaluation.
	I understand that ACPO's Homicide Working Group will consider a report on the project in April, which will include recommendations about whether to extend the scheme.

Children in Jail

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on trends in the numbers of children being held in jails in England and Wales in the last 10 years.

Hilary Benn: The number of people aged under-18 held in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales for 1992 to 2002 is given in the table.
	
		Number of people aged under-18 in Prison Service establishments at 30 June each year
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			  
			  
			 1992 1,328 
			 1993 1,304 
			 1994 1,526 
			 1995 1,675 
			 1996 2,093 
			 1997 2,479 
			 1998 2,466 
			 1999 2,422 
			 2000 2,434 
			 2001 2,448 
			 2002 2,609

Community Punishments

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many community service and community punishment orders have been made by the courts; how many have been breached; and how many breaches resulted in a custodial sentence being imposed in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many probation/community rehabilitation orders have been made by the courts; how many have been breached; and how many breaches resulted in a custodial sentence being imposed in each of the last five years.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is published in XCriminal Statistics, England and Wales, 2000, a copy of which is in the Library (Table 7.24 refers).

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 7 October 2002 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Muqtar Suufi Abubaker.

David Blunkett: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 21 November 2002

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 7 October 2002 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Ali Aredleer.

David Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 20 November 2002.

Correspondence

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will respond to the letters of 26 April 2002 and 19 June 2002 of the hon. Member for West Derbyshire concerning the cost of police pensions.

John Denham: A reply to both letters was sent on 26 November 2002. I apologise for the considerable delay in responding.

Crime Reduction Strategy

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made within Essex following the introduction of the Government's Crime Reduction Strategy.

John Denham: The table outlines the Home Office crime reduction investment in Essex since the publication of the Crime Reduction Strategy in 1999. This encompasses the Basildon, Brentwood, Braintree, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Southend, Tendring, Thurrock and Uttlesford Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas.
	
		
			 Funding initiative Funding received () 
		
		
			 CCTV 2,311,904 
			 Communities against drugs 1,254,000 
			 Partnership development fund 878,788 
			 Tackling domestic violence 599,971 
			 Safer communities initiative 429,599 
			 Small retailers in deprived areas 183,126 
			 Community support officers 118,735 
			 Reducing burglary initiative 72,649 
			 Total 5,848,772 
		
	
	In addition, mainstream funding of 590 million has been allocated to Essex for policing since 1999.
	The targeted funding listed has helped to reduce crime in priority areas such as burglary dwelling, down 10.1 per cent., and drug offences, down by 14.8 per cent.

Crime Statistics

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) racially aggravated offences, (b) violent crime, (c) robbery of personal property and (d) drug offences were recorded in (i) Somerset, (ii) South West England and (iii) England in (A) 1997, (B) 1998, (C) 1999, (D) 2000 and (E) 2001.

John Denham: The requested statistics are given in the table.
	On 1 April 1998, there was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime, and an expansion of the offences covered. This resulted in an increase of crimes recorded by the police. Recorded crime figures before this date will therefore not be directly comparable.
	Avon and Somerset police force implemented the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in advance of its national implementation in April 2002. The effects of the Standard are explained in table footnote 9.
	
		Recorded crime: number of offences recorded from 1997 to 200102
		
			 Police force area/offence 1997(16) 199798(17) 199899(18) 19992000 200001(19) 200102(19) 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 
			 Total racially aggravated offences(20)240 478 700 
			 Total violent crime(21) 12,176 13,219 14,985 16,061 19,071 23,670 
			 Robbery of personal property(22)   1,694 2,177 2,573 4,585 
			 Drug offences(23) 484 461 2,145 2,017 1,990 1,860 
			
			 South-west Region(24)   
			 Total racially aggravated offences(20)667 1,216 1,521 
			 Total violent crime(21) 27,419 28,814 40,242 43,986 47,785 53,840 
			 Robbery of personal property(22)   2,657 3,265 3,694 5,954 
			 Drug offences(23) 1,705 1,699 9,471 9,637 8,922 9,635 
			
			 England   
			 Total racially aggravated offences(20)21,140 24,303 29,080 
			 Total violent crime(21) 326,993 332,683 571,027 662,527 692,561 773,680 
			 Robbery of personal property(22)   55,645 71,387 82,010 107,325 
			 Drug offences(23) 21,627 21,774 126,196 113,346 105,107 111,895 
		
	
	(16) Recorded on a calendar year basis.
	(17) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 1998.
	(18) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
	(19) Avon and Somerset implemented the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in advance of the national implementation date of April 2002. The 200102 figures for this force, and consequently those for the south west region will be affected by the standard, as have those figures for England. The impact of the standard will vary for different types of offence.
	(20) Racially aggravated offences became notifiable to the police on 1 April 1999. The offences covered are: other wounding, harassment, common assault, criminal damage to a dwelling, criminal damage to a building other than a dwelling, criminal damage to a vehicle and other criminal damage.
	(21) Violent crime is comprised of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.
	(22) Robbery of personal property was recorded separately (from total robbery) as from 1 April 1998.
	(23) Up until 1 April 1998, trafficking in controlled drugs was the only drugs-related offence recorded. After this date the offence coverage was expanded to include more drugs-related offences.
	(24) The south west region comprises the following police forces: Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Drug Addiction

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evidence has been produced in the NACRO project funded by him comparing drug addiction of offenders, with special reference to Worksop.

Bob Ainsworth: As part of the drug testing pilot programme evaluation Worksop has been selected as a comparative site in the Nottinghamshire area. The National Association of Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) team will interview and track offenders who have a similar profile to those within the Nottingham pilot site to compare how their offending and drug misuse differs from those being drug tested. Interviewing began in late summer 2002 and NACRO is due to report in the autumn of 2003.

Drug Convictions (Sentencing)

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons convicted of drug dealing have received custodial sentences of more than 10 years in the last 12 months.

Bob Ainsworth: 42 persons in England and Wales were sentenced to at least 10 years immediate custody for drug dealing in the year 2000.
	The term dealing is taken to cover the following drug offences: possession with intent to supply unlawfully, unlawful supply and unlawful import/export.
	Data for 2001 are not yet available.

Drug Treatment

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is his policy that workers at drop-in centres and centres for the homeless who specialise in preparing drug-users for treatment and provide counselling and guidance to them should be required to notify the police of substance misuse.

Bob Ainsworth: Section 8 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 created offences for the occupier or persons concerned in the management of any premises to knowingly permit or suffer specified controlled drug misuse on their premises. Section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 extended Section 8(d) of 1971 from the smoking of cannabis, cannabis resin or prepared opium to administering or using any controlled drug. However, it was agreed by Parliament, during the passage of the amending legislation, that notes of the Guidance would be published on the operation of the new provision before it was enacted.
	Draft notes for guidance were accordingly prepared and sent out for wide consultation by the Home Office on 19 September. These explained the background to the change and how it was proposed to operate it. The guidance included a sentence to the effect that occupiers and managers of premises who suspect drug misuse should contact local police at an early stage to prevent it. It further explained that failure to inform and co-operate with the police exposes individuals to possible prosecution. However the Guidance also described examples of harm reduction factors which would need to be taken into account by the police when deciding, based on the public interest, whether or not to instigate a prosecution.
	The consultation exercise closed on 8 November. A decision will be taken on the issue of the Guidance Notes once the responses to the consultation exercise have been fully analysed and considered.
	Draft notes for guidance were accordingly prepared and sent out for wide consultation by the Home Office on 19 September. These explained the background to the change and how it was proposed to operate it. The guidance included a sentence to the effect that occupiers and managers of premises who suspect drug misuse should contact local police at an early stage to prevent it. It further explained that failure to inform and co-operate with the police exposes individuals to possible prosecution. However the Guidance also described examples of harm reduction factors which would need to be taken into account by the police when deciding, based on the public interest, whether or not to instigate a prosecution.
	The consultation exercise closed on 8 November. A decision will be taken on the issue of the Guidance Notes once the responses to the consultation exercise have

Entitlement Card

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what co-ordination he has undertaken of Department assessment of the implications of the entitlement card proposals for the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 27 November 2002
	Home Office officials met with counterparts in the Scottish Executive to discuss issues of particular relevance to the devolved administration, prior to the publication of the consultation paper on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud. These contacts have continued during the consultation exercise.
	The consultation paper states that any legislation to establish an entitlement card scheme would be enacted by the Westminster Parliament, as any scheme would need to operate on a UK-wide basis if it was to be effective as an immigration control measure.
	One of the detailed options for the scope of any legislation would allow organisations to link services to a card scheme via their own legislation. Under these arrangements, it will be a matter for the Scottish Executive and Parliament to decide whether to link the services they are responsible for to a card scheme. However, they could not prevent the issuing of a card for purposes which are outside the scope of their powers, for example, the UK card as a travel document in Europe.

Female Genital Mutilation

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been in the UK against surgeons carrying out female genital mutilation in each of the last 10 years.

Hilary Benn: Information held centrally on the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, shows that there were no prosecutions brought for such offences in England and Wales in the years 1991 to 2000.
	Information for 2001 is due for publication in December.
	Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly respectively.

Immigration (Overstayers)

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the applications made under the regularisation scheme for overstayers have been (a) decided, (b) granted and (c) refused; how many cases are (i) under consideration and (ii) awaiting validation; and when he expects all cases to have been decided.

Beverley Hughes: A total of 3,379 cases have been decided under the regularisation scheme for overstayers. Of these 2,954 have been granted and 425 refused. As of 22 November 2002 11,936 cases have to be finally determined. Of these 9,114 are awaiting consideration by the Integrated Case Work Directorate North and 2,822 are being dealt with in other areas of the Integrated Case Work Directorate. Considerable extra resources, have now been allocated to the consideration of these cases and it is anticipated that all will have been decided by April 2003.

Metropolitan Police

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money was available to be spent by the Metropolitan Police in each of the last 10 years.

John Denham: holding answer 27 November 2002
	Net revenue budget requirements for the Metropolitan Police Service in each of the last 10 years are set out in the table.
	
		
			 Year  million 
		
		
			 199394 782.0 
			 199495 813.0 
			 199596(25) 1,661.0 
			 199697 1,676.0 
			 199798 1,720.0 
			 199899 1,778.0 
			 19992000 1,836.0 
			 200001(26) 1,830.0 
			 200102 1,980.1 
			 200203(27) 2,037.7 
		
	
	(25) Police grant was redefined to be within Budget Requirements from 199596. Before then, police grant was deducted from expenditure to show net expenditure. Since then, expenditure has been shown before deduction of police grant.
	(26) The Metropolitan Police Service budget in 200001 is not directly comparable with previous years. Parts of the metropolitan police district transferred to Essex, Herts and Surrey from 1 April 2000.
	(27) The grant figure for 200203 is not directly comparable with that for 200102 owing to changes in funding for the National Crime Squad/National Criminal Intelligence Service. The figure for 200102 comparable with the 200203 provision would have been 1,941.9 million.
	Source:
	Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Metropolitan Police

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police support staff in the Metropolitan Police area there where in each of the last 10 years; and on what tasks they were employed.

John Denham: holding answer 27 November 2002
	The information requested in respect of the number of support staff in the Metropolitan Police is set out in the table which has been provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. During the period in question the Metropolitan Police undertook an outsourcing programme and a number of staff transferred to the private sector in areas such as Information Technology (IT) vehicle maintenance and property services. The figures provided therefore include privately contracted staff as well as Metropolitan Police authority employed staff.
	In response to what tasks they are employed on, civilians perform more than 150 different tasks and it is not possible to list them all. In general civilians employed in borough operational command units undertake personnel, finance or communications support. If employed in central departments they will cover issues such as recruitment, personnel, finance and procurement. In addition the Metropolitan Police Service employ a number of specialist civilian employees who undertake work such as IT specialists, Scenes of Crime examiners as well as traffic wardens, control room staff and station reception staff.
	
		
			 Year end Number of support staff 
		
		
			 31 March 1993 14,663 
			 31 March 1994 14,483 
			 31 March 1995 14,337 
			 31 March 1996 14,368 
			 31 March 1997 13,492 
			 31 March 1998 12,563 
			 31 March 1999 11,390 
			 31 March 2000 10,759 
			 31 March 1901 10,197 
			 31 March 1902 10,548

Mr. Robert Brown

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice and other assistance has been made available to Mr. Robert Brown following the recent quashing of his conviction; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 21 November 2002
	The Home Office-funded advice service being piloted by the Citizens Advice Bureau at the Royal Courts of Justice for individuals released on appeal against conviction was established earlier this year. The project staff were made aware of Mr. Brown's case prior to his release and have sought to contact him twice by telephone to offer assistance. They have not yet been able to establish contact. An application for compensation for wrongful conviction has been lodged at the Home Office and is being treated as a priority.

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), which the police and probation services were required by statute to establish in each of the 42 areas of England and Wales from April 2001, have already strengthened the effectiveness of the assessment and management of the risks posed by sexual and violent offenders. An assessment of the new arrangements was set out in the central annual report on the MAPPA, which I published on 22 July 2002, a copy of which was placed in the Library.

Paedophiles (Internet)

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take further measures to prevent advances to children for sexual purposes (a) on the internet and (b) elsewhere.

Hilary Benn: This Government's Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet set up in May 2001 has developed proposals for a criminal offence to tackle the Xgrooming of children by paedophiles online or offline. This is intended to allow prosecution at an early stage when children are being groomed, before an existing sexual offence has been committed. In addition, the proposals include the creation of a new civil protection order relating to behaviour towards a child for an illegal or harmful sexual purpose. These proposals were announced in the Government's command paper on Sex Offence Reform, XProtecting the Public on 19 November 2002.
	In addition, the task force has developed, run and now evaluated a successful national awareness campaign targeted at both children and parents about internet safety. Independent evaluation of the campaigns shows significantly improved awareness of the key messages in both target audiences. The task force is now considering that evaluation and how to build on the momentum created.
	Practical online child protection measures have included draft models of good practice for service providers in respect of chat, instant messaging and web services. These encourage, among other things, clear and accessible safety messages and advice and user-friendly mechanisms for reporting abuse. The drafts are being considered by the wider industry through the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) and the London Internet Exchange (LINX).
	The task force will next be looking at: consideration of the extent to which the criminal law currently covers unsuitable material being sent to children and all forms of indecent representations of children; an assessment of the new challenges posed by development of 3G mobile phones; and developing basic training materials for child protection staff on children's internet use.
	In parallel with the task force, the UK has played a leading role in the development of a G8 strategy for protecting children from sexual exploitation on the internet. The strategy, which is not yet finalised, will cover issues such as: victim identification; intelligence gathering and sharing; location of suspects; enforcement tools and training: awareness building and prevention; and police working with industry and non-governmental organisation's (NGOs). The task force will take forward the UK's domestic actions where it can to support the leading role played by the UK so far in this field.
	The XProtecting the Public command paper, published on 19 November 2002 also included details of proposed sex offence reform that will further protect children from sexual activity. New or expanded offences of adult sexual activity with a child, familial sexual abuse of a child, commercial sexual exploitation of a child, sexual activity between minors and abuse of trust are designed to protect children from those who seek to exploit or abuse them sexually.

Police (Pensions and Staffing)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many former police officers are on retirement pensions; and how many police there are in service;
	(2)  what the average age of retirement for police has been over the last five years;
	(3)  what the average pension received by a police officer is; and what percentage of final salary a police officer is entitled to after 30 years service.

John Denham: holding answer 27 November 2002
	Specific information relating to all forces in England and Wales about the number of former police officers with pensions, their average retirement age and the average level of their pensions is not held centrally.
	We estimate that about 125,000 former officers and dependents are receiving pensions and that about three quarters of these will be former officers. As at 31 March 2002, there were 129,603 police officers in England and Wales.
	Although national information is not available, figures provided by the Staffordshire Police for the average age of retirement of police officers from that force either with an ordinary or ill-health pension are in given in the table.
	Based on data from 11 forces we estimate that the average amount received by a former officer retiring with an ordinary pension or ill-health pension, not including the lump sum, is about 11,800 per annum. After 30 years of service and contributions to the Police Pension Scheme, a police officer is entitled to 40/60ths of his or her average pensionable pay for the final year of service, or one half average pensionable pay if he or she elects to commute a quarter of his or her pension for a lump sum.
	
		
			 Year Average age 
		
		
			 1997 48.15 
			 1998 48.73 
			 1999 49.43 
			 2000 50.41 
			 2001 57.75

Policing Priorities

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent guidance he has sent to police authorities on policing priorities.

John Denham: On 20 November I laid the National Policing Plan before Parliament as required by section 1 of the Police Reform Act 2002. As I explained in my letter to hon. Members that day, the plan sets out for the first time in one document, the priorities for the police service in England and Wales for the next three years together with the performance targets and indicators against which delivery will be measured. The strategic priorities for the police service in 200306 are as follows:
	Tackling antisocial behaviour and disorder
	Reducing volume, street, drug-related and violent and gun crime in line with local and national targets
	Combating serious and organised crime operating across force boundaries
	Increasing the number of offences brought to justice.
	The plan contains a planning framework as a tool to aid implementation. I shall shortly be issuing guidance on local three-year strategies.

Prisoners

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison places there are in England and Wales; what the prison population is; and what plans he has to increase the number of prison places over the next three years.

Hilary Benn: As at 21 November 2002, the prison population of England and Wales stood at 72,477. On the same date, useable operational capacity was 72,882.
	60 million has been made available to provide 740 additional places by March 2004. This is in addition to funding from the 2002 Budget that will provide 2,320 places by March 2003, together with 400 places at Birmingham prison, which are funded by the 2000 spending review and are scheduled to open in April 2004.
	Prison Service plans to build two new private prisons at Ashford (near Heathrow) and Peterborough in Cambridgeshire have recently been approved. These two new prisons will together provide around 1,300 places by 200405.

Prisoners

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners in UK prisons under 35-years-old have served time in young offenders institutions.

Hilary Benn: No information is collected centrally on which establishments prisoners have served previous sentences in. Information relating to prisoners in Scotland and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive (Helen Liddell) and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Dr. John Reid) respectively.

Prisoners

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what differences there are in securing (a) town visits, (b) home leave and (c) early release under the tagging system between Scottish and English domicile prisoners held in prisons in England;
	(2)  what differences in status and rights there are between Scottish domicile and foreign national prisoners held in prisons in England.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 26 November 2002
	All convicted prisoners located in prisons in England and Wales, irrespective of where they are domiciled, have the same status and rights under the Prison Act 1952. The Prison Service does not separately define prisoners domiciled in Scotland.
	Prisoners detained in England and Wales who have close family ties with Scotland may apply to serve their sentences there, in accordance with the provisions of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. Foreign national prisoners may apply to serve their sentences in their country of nationality, providing there is an international agreement in force between the United Kingdom and the country concerned.
	There are a number of forms of temporary release available to prisoners at different stages of the sentence. The rules do not differentiate between prisoners domiciled in Scotland and those domiciled in England. However, some forms of temporary release are for the purpose of allowing prisoners to visit their homes during the day in order to begin their resettlement. It may not be practical, therefore, for prisoners domiciled some distance away from their prison to benefit from this type of release. Other forms of temporary release, which include an overnight stay, can be taken in Scotland.
	Prisoners sentenced in England and Wales cannot be given Home Detention Curfew (tagging) to an address in Scotland.

Prisoners (Dental Treatment)

Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are awaiting dental treatment in each prison in the UK; and what the length of waiting times are.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is not available. However, arrangements are being developed to collect data about waiting times for urgent and routine appointments in prisons in England and Wales. Matters concerning Scotland are the responsibility of the devolved Administration. While the institutions in Northern Ireland are dissolved, responsibility for prisons in Northern Ireland rests with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office.

Quat

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to propose a change in the law to make illegal the use of Quat.

Bob Ainsworth: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs keeps under review the extent to which Quat (or Khat) is misused, and whether that misuse has harmful effects sufficient to constitute a social problem. The matter will be considered at the Council's next meeting. Any decision about the legal status of Khat will be taken in the light of the Council's advice.

Rape

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Department will publish its review of its action plan to implement the recommendations of the HMCPSI/HMIC joint investigation into the investigation and prosecution of cases involving allegations of rape; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Implementation of the action plan is progressing well. Aninter-agency working group, led by the Home Office and with representation from the police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Court Service, is monitoring progress against the agreed action points. The group is also considering the issues of wider evaluation to assess the impact of the action plan on the ground, and the dissemination of this information.

Sex Offenders

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take further measures to ensure that released sex offenders are not re-housed near schools or children's play areas.

Hilary Benn: We are planning to introduce measures in the Criminal Justice Bill and the Sexual Offences Bill which will further strengthen the recently introduced multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), which have improved significantly the work of the police and probation services in protecting the public from sexual and violent offenders.
	The new measures include a sentence for dangerous offenders, which will ensure that they are only released when they are no longer regarded as a risk; and some further tightening up of sex offender registration. Additionally, we are keen that full use is made of sex offender orders and restraining orders, which can be very effective in helping protect schools and play areas from sexual offenders. In early December we are to issue new guidance to the police on using sex offender orders in light of our experience of best practice and of the new provisions we introduced in the Police Reform Act 2002.

Stolen Art and Artefacts

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value was of stolen art and artefacts in the last year for which information is available.

John Denham: The Home Office does not collect such information centrally.

Street Crime

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Ministers allocated responsibility for delivery in the police force areas covered by the street crime initiative will continue to supervise policing in those areas; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The Street Crime Action Group, chaired by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, agreed that it would be helpful for each of the 10 street crime areas to be supported by a Government Minister. The role of the sponsor Ministers is not to supervise policing of the street crime areas, which falls to the commissioner or relevant chief constable.
	The role of the sponsor Ministers is to undertake visits to the areas they have been allocated, to meet with, and support local agencies, promote a shared approach to tackling street crime at a local level, and to identify issues on which further action by government agencies would be helpful. The sponsor Ministers will continue to carry out this role.

Street Crime

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what extra support he plans to give to victims and witnesses as part of the Street Crimes Court Initiative.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 26 November 2002
	One of the aims of the Street Crime Initiative is to improve the support for victims and witnesses throughout the criminal justice process. Enhanced victim and witness facilities are available in the 70 street crime courts designated to deal with street crime cases across the 10 force areas participating in the initiative. Forty five of these courts have had physical improvements made (costing over 4 million), including separate entrances and waiting rooms, to provide suitable facilities and support to victims and witnesses to protect them from intimidation while at court.
	An entire witness suite, launched on 21 November, has been created at the Inner London Crown court to serve the London courts. This allows vulnerable and intimidated witnesses to give evidence to any court connected with ISDN lines through a video link. Witnesses using this system enter the court using their own secure entrance, and have no need to visit the public part of the Court, ensuring that they do not come into contact with the offender.
	Local Victim Support schemes across the 10 areas are working in support of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Premium Service, which has enhanced working arrangements between prosecution teams, courts and Victim Support and the Witness Service. The focus on supporting and guiding the victims of street crime through the process from the moment they report a crime is particularly important to ensuring an effective outcome through the court process.

Witnesses

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for reform of the law relating to the competence and compellability of witnesses in court proceedings.

Hilary Benn: holding answer 26 November 2002
	There are no plans to reform the law relating to the compellability of witnesses in court proceedings.
	Under section 53 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, the general presumption is that at every stage in criminal proceedings all persons, whatever their age, are competent to act as witnesses and give evidence unless it appears to the court the person in question cannot understand the questions put to him and give answers to the court that can be understood.
	When considering the competence of a person to be a witness the court should take into consideration whether the quality of the person's evidence can be improved by the assistance of special measures, in particular the use of aids to communication and intermediaries. The use of aids to communication for vulnerable or intimidated witnesses was implemented in the Crown courts on 24 July 2002 and the implementation of the use of intermediaries will be considered following the evaluation of pilot projects which are due to commence next year.

Women Prisoners

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of sentence is for women convicted of drug offences in the last year for which figures are available.

Hilary Benn: The average sentence of immediate custody imposed of women convicted of drug offences in 2000 in England and Wales was 17.5 months.
	Data for 2001 are not yet available.

Women Prisoners

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women convicted in each of the last five years were (a) sent to prison and (b) given community penalties.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is contained in the table.
	
		Women found guilty of all offences at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody and to community sentences, England and Wales, 1996 to 2000
		
			  Women found guilty Sentenced to immediate custody Given community sentences 
		
		
			 1996 260,982 4,403 16,592 
			 1997 217,137 5,506 18,780 
			 1998 235,578 6,567 21,052 
			 1999 219,980 7,504 22,169 
			 2000 256,018 7,900 23,625 
		
	
	Data for 2001 are not yet available.

Women Prisoners

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were sent to prison on remand in each of the last five years; and how many where subsequently acquitted.

Hilary Benn: The requested information is in the following tables.
	The first table represents the number of female prisoners that were received into prisons in England and Wales onto remand over the whole of 2001. These individuals may subsequently have been sentenced.
	The second table represents female prisoners who were remanded in custody in England and Wales at some stage by a magistrates court, and who were acquitted at some point in 2001.
	The two tables do not necessarily cover the same individuals. They are from different data sources and some individuals will be acquitted in a different year to when they were sent to prison on remand.
	
		
			  Number of remand receptions 
		
		
			 1996 4,221 
			 1997 5,124 
			 1998 6,258 
			 1999 6,721 
			 2000 6,584 
			 2001(28) 7,191 
		
	
	(28) Provisional
	
		Women remanded in custody at some stage in magistrates court proceedings
		
			  Estimated percentage acquitted 
		
		
			 1996 24 
			 1997 23 
			 1998 21 
			 1999 20 
			 2000 21 
			 2001 n/a

Women's Prison (Ashford, Middlesex)

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the delay in signing the contract for a women's prison at Ashford (Middlesex).

Hilary Benn: holding answer 27 November 2002
	The contract between Her Majesty's Prison Service and UKDS for the new prison at Ashford is expected to be signed shortly. Following usual practice I will write to the hon. Member before the contract is signed.

Young Offenders

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many under-18 year olds were in each of the last 10 years held in custody in England and Wales on 30 September; broken down by those in (a) each prison, (b) each local authority secure unit and (c) each secure training centre; and in each case how many persons were held aged (i) 10 to 12 (ii) 13 to 14 and (iii) 15 to 16 and (iv) 17 to 18.

Hilary Benn: The requested information has been placed in the Library. Information is not held in the detail requested prior to 1995.
	Information on juveniles held in local authority secure units and secure training units was not collected centrally prior to April 2000.

Young Offenders

Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the practice of remanding 15 to 16-year-old boys in prison.

Hilary Benn: For juveniles a custodial remand should always be the last option considered by the courts. We have provided a wide range of community alternatives including bail support and supervision schemes, tagging on bail and the intensive supervision and surveillance programme.
	Where a custodial remand is necessary 15 and 16-year-old boys are remanded to Prison Service accommodation, unless the court considers them particularly vulnerable, in which case they could be remanded to a local authority secure unit.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Works Expenditure

Philip Hammond: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what was (a) the total cost of the works carried out to Old Palace Yard and Abingdon Street over the course of 2001 and 2002 and (b) the contribution of the House of Commons Commission to such works.

Archy Kirkwood: The House of Commons Commission has made no contribution to the cost of the road works, for which the authorities of the House of Lords are responsible.
	The House of Commons has paid 33,384 in 200203 towards the cost of the Golden Jubilee Sundial.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Education

Robert Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to ensure that every child in the world receives a free basic education as guaranteed under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Clare Short: Unfortunately there has been little international effort to implement the rights to education outlined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the past.
	The Government are strongly committed to mobilising greater international efforts to meet the millennium development goals. The target for education is to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. We are working with the UN and international financial institutions and national development agencies to heighten commitments to meet the target.
	Since 1997 we have committed 700 million to basic education. Forecast commitment for the next five years are 1.3 billion. Of this 500 million will go to Africa and 800 million will go to Asia. These spending figures are forecasts and depend on agreeing quality programmes with partners.

Ethiopia

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement about UK measures to avoid starvation in Ethiopia.

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much emergency aid her Department will provide to Ethiopia during the present food shortage; what form that aid will take; when it will be delivered; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: I refer my hon. Friend and the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) on 26 November 2002, Official Report, columns 20102W.

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she expects the remaining debts for the heavily indebted poor countries to be cancelled.

Clare Short: So far, 26 countries out of a total of 37 eligible countries have qualified for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Of these, six countries have reached Completion Point and have received full debt relief. A further 20 countries have reached their Decision Point and are receiving interim debt relief. We expect the bulk of these countries to reach Completion Point in the next two years; when they, too, will receive full debt relief. It is difficult to predict when the other 11 countries will qualify for HIPC relief, as many are still affected by conflict and governance problems. Of these, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Comoros and Cote d'lvoire may reach Decision Point in 2003 but, in some cases, this will depend on progress towards peace. The remaining countries are a long way from qualifying as they are affected by conflict or have serious governance concerns; these are Burundi, Congo Republic, Liberia, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Togo.

Malawi

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial assistance her Department is giving to Malawi to (a) treat and (b) prevent HIV/AIDS.

Clare Short: My Department is providing support for the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework by means of a 25 million sexual and reproductive health programme. A further 10 million supports the provision of sexual and reproductive health services by a local non-Governmental organisation (Banja La Mtsogolo).
	The UK is contributing 300 million to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, and Malawi was recently granted $200 million from this fund to be utilised over the next five years.
	DFID has also been involved with Government and other donors in the development and establishment of the National AIDS Commission (NAC). NAG operates as a trust, relatively independent of Government, and is responsible for the preparation of a national strategy and action plan, which aims to improve prevention, care and support and impact mitigation. DFID will be strengthening its support to the Government of Malawi through NAC, the Ministry of Health and Population and other Ministries which are improving their responses to HIV in the workplace and the communities they serve, and to a stronger national Civil Society response.
	All DFID programmes now include sector specific activities to help address HIV/AIDS.

Malawi

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when she expects Malawi to achieve the Millennium Development goals.

Clare Short: Malawi ranks as one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita income of US$170 in 2001. An equally low UN Human Development Index indicates that progress towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) will be slow.
	Specific challenges include attainment of the MDGs for poverty reduction and gender equality. There have been gains in achievement of universal primary education, but this is marked by concerns regarding the quality of education and participation rates for girls. Progress in achievement of MDGs for child mortality and maternal health has been poor; maternal mortality has doubled to 1,120:100,000 since 1992. There are indications that the high incidence of HIV/AIDS (currently 16 per cent.) and its coincide with the present food crisis, will lead to further increases in mortality. Life expectancy has already dropped below 40 years of age. There are also growing problems with governance standards.
	Malawi launched its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in April. PRS monitoring will be linked to MDGs. My Department is providing support in partnership with other donors, to ensure this is appropriately robust.

Malawi

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on (a) the level of debt interest payments made by Malawi and (b) the effects on poverty eradication in the country.

Clare Short: According to the Reserve Bank of Malawi, in 2001, external debt service was Malawian Kwacha 6.4 billion (US$78 million) and of this (30 per cent.) Malawian Kwacha 1.9 billion (US$23 million) was in respect of payments.
	Malawi remains eligible for interim debt relief under the Enhanced HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative (US$91.4 million in total). In 2001 Malawi benefited from US$27 million of this. In 2002, the position is different. Although Malawi could have received a further US$50 million in debt relief, this amount has not been forthcoming because of the Government's unsatisfactory economic and financial management performance during the year. The country is currently off track with its IMF programme and has serious problems of corruption. The Minister of Finance has promised to announce a number of remedial measures this next week and the IMF is expected to return to Malawi in mid-December to discuss progress against these. Assuming Malawi can get back on track with the IMF in the near future, the Government could still be on schedule to reach its HIPC completion point by mid 2003. At that stage, all of the debt covered by the HIPC initiative would be irrevocably cancelled. In addition, Malawi would be reimbursed for the relief it is currently losing. HIPC debt relief should be used for increased spending on health, education, and other social priorities.
	Domestic debt, which stood at MK20.2 billion (14 per cent. of GDP) in July 2002 and the rising domestic interest bill is also a concern. This underscores the importance of Government implementing the necessary remedial actions to restore fiscal stability and thus reduce the need to borrow domestically.

Maternal Mortality (Africa)

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment her Department has made of rates of maternal mortality in Africa; and what recent evaluation she has made of the impact of her Department's programmes on rates of maternal mortality.

Clare Short: Improving maternal health is a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and the most difficult goal to meet. DFID is committed to working towards achieving this goal and the associated target to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015.
	Maternal mortality is difficult to measure and most poor countries have poor systems and lack reliable estimates of the number of women who die in pregnancy. We have to rely on standard surveys of maternal mortality as and when they are undertaken. Monitoring and evaluation of the impacts of DFID's programmes tend to be against proxy indicators. An internationally accepted proxy indicator for maternal mortality reduction is the proportion of births attended by skilled attendants. Using this indicator we can see progress in Latin America and the Caribbean, but in Sub-Saharan Africa where poverty is deepest and HIV/AIDS makes progress more difficult, there has been no significant change. DFID has and will continue to work with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank and others to develop new and improved tools and methods to measure maternal mortality and evaluate the effectiveness of maternal and neo-natal healthcare strategies.
	We will continue to work bilaterally and with multilateral agencies towards the reduction of maternal mortality. Greater investment in health and more political commitment from national governments and international development agencies is needed to address this issue.

Zimbabwe

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent reports she has received about displaced Zimbabwean farmworkers and their relocation; who is responsible for their relocation; how many people her Department estimates will be affected; what impact she believes this will have on the humanitarian situation in (a) Zimbabwe and (b) bordering countries; what representations she has made to (i) SADC and (ii) EU countries on this matter; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: My Department is working closely with the UN and other donors who share our concern about destitute farm workers in Zimbabwe. They are among the most vulnerable people in the current humanitarian crisis. EU member states and SADC countries are aware of this.
	At present the large majority of commercial farm workers remain on site, or with neighbouring farm worker families, alongside new settlers. Their longer-term future is uncertain. Some are moving to take jobs with new employers, often on a casual basis. Several thousand people have been forcibly evicted, particularly from farms allocated to new commercial scale farmers. But there is no present evidence of systematic displacement. The UN plans a new survey of the situation in January.
	DFID is already supporting supplementary feeding for 49,000 children in farm schools, and general feeding of 50,000 people in farm villages. We are ready to increase our support as agencies scale up their operations.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Libra IT System

Vincent Cable: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how much the overspend was on the Department's new Libra IT system; what fees were paid to the consultants on the system; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The contract with Fujitsu Services for the delivery of Libra has been varied twice since initial completion in December 1998. This has resulted in changes to the baseline making it inappropriate to compare spend to date across an original and two variants of the contract. The actual spend against the contract can be summarised as follows:
	Original ICL Contract Dec 1998
	Total contracted charges expected to arise over contract life of 10.5 years184m
	Negotiated ICL Contract May 2000
	Total contracted charges expected to arise over contract life of 14.5 years319m
	Negotiated Fujitsu Services Contract July 2002
	Total contracted charges expected to arise over contract life of 8.5 years232m
	Total contracted charges paid by 30 Sept 0264.8m
	(This is included in the 232 current contract)
	In addition, the Department has spent 9.6 million on the management of the project over the same period, of which 1.4m covered consultancy costs.

Witness Payments

Chris Mullin: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he plans to publish the results of his consultation on payments to witnesses; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor intends to publish a paper summarising the responses to the consultation early next year.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Drugs Funding

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on how additional money for drugs was distributed to boards and trusts in Northern Ireland by the Department of Health in the last 12 months.

Des Browne: As regards illicit drugs, additional resources from the Northern Ireland Drug Campaign have been allocated to targets in the Regional Action Plan, which were agreed as priorities by the Working Groups, set up as part of the Joint Implementation Model. The Executive endorsed the Joint Implementation Model in May 2001.
	The Treatment Working Group has allocated resources for priority services through the eight Community Addiction Teams, based in Health and Social Services Trusts. No additional resources were supplied to Health and Social Services Boards who are all members of the Treatment Working Group.
	In relation to prescribed drugs, on 21 August 2002 Boards were allocated a further 3 million to help meet the cost of new, effective but highly expensive specialist drugs already being prescribed in the hospital sector. This money was, as is customary, issued in accordance with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's capitation formula for sharing out resources between Boards.
	It is for each Board to decide on the distribution of its share to the Trusts concerned, in light of the needs of their respective populations. I understand that these resources are being directed towards a range of existing pressures including those related to severe mental illness, high-risk infections, cystic fibrosis, Crohn's disease, Fabry's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Fishermen

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action is being taken to ensure the livelihoods of fishermen are safeguarded.

Ian Pearson: I fully recognise the concerns about the future of livelihoods of those depending on a viable and sustainable fisheries industry in Northern. I have recently met representatives of the catching sector, and with processors as well as local elected representatives concerned with the future of the industry. They have briefed me in considerable detail on the difficulties which the industry faces at the moment, and of the responsible efforts they have made in recent years to allow declining stocks of fish in the Irish Sea to recover. In acknowledging the gravity of the current situation, and the seriousness of the scientific advice on the state of key commercial stocks in the Irish Sea, I also recognise that a viable and sustainable industry is important, not just for those directly involved in fishing and fish processing, but for the wider community. I have given a commitment to work energetically in the interests of the Northern Ireland fishing industry, particularly between now and the Fisheries Council meeting in Brussels just before Christmas, to ensure that the Northern Ireland dimension to this complex and difficult problem is not overlooked. I will meet the DEFRA Fisheries Minister to ensure that the Northern Ireland dimension is fully recognised in the UK position during the Fisheries Council bilaterals later this month.

Poverty

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place to combat poverty in Northern Ireland.

Des Browne: New Targeting Social Need (TSN) is Northern Ireland's main policy for tackling poverty and social exclusion. New TSN aims to tackle social need and social exclusion by targeting efforts and available resources within existing Departmental programmes towards people, groups and areas in greatest social need.
	New TSN is being implemented by all Northern Ireland Government Departments and relevant agencies providing a co-ordinated and comprehensive approach to tackling poverty and social disadvantage.
	Action Plans have been developed by each Department containing the actions and targets through which they deliver New TSN. Every Department reviews its Action Plan every year and updates it to take account of progress, building in new targets to follow those completed.
	The New TSN Annual Report 2002 will be published week commencing 1 December 2002. It will provide specific examples of the measures taken by Departments to combat poverty in Northern Ireland. We have commissioned an independent external evaluation of New Targeting Social Need in order to assess the way in which the policy has been implemented so far and to examine its impact. The outcome of the evaluation will feed into future thinking on New TSN.

Pre-school Education

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many funded places in playgroups and nursery schools have been awarded for children aged three years and under in Northern Ireland; and how many children in their pre-school year have not been provided with a funded pre-school place in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years.

Jane Kennedy: The funded places allocated to private and voluntary providers are only available to children in their immediate pre-school yearthose aged between three years two months and four years two months. Places in the statutory sector are, as has been the case since the early 1970s, open to children from two years old to the lower limit of compulsory school age. The number of children attending statutory nursery schools and units who had not attained the age of three (the basis on which data is collected) by the date of the schools census was 992 in the 200001 school year and 1,423 in the 200102 school year.
	In the current school year I expect places to be provided for more than 90 per cent. of the relevant cohort of children. Given that participation in pre-school education is voluntary, this level of provision should be sufficient at regional level to meet the expected demand. However, there may be occasions where a funded place is not available in a specific locality but no information is collected centrally on such cases.

Pre-school Education

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will amend existing legislation in Northern Ireland to ensure that priority is given to providing a funded place for each child in immediate pre-school year.

Jane Kennedy: Under the current pre-school admissions regulations, statutory nursery schools and units are required, in all cases, to give applications in respect of children in their immediate pre-school year priority over those in respect of younger children. The funded places allocated in the voluntary/private sector are only available to children in their immediate pre-school year. I am therefore content that the current arrangements are sufficient.

Research Assessment Exercise

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will allocate resources to the University of Ulster and Queen's University, Belfast in line with their performance in the Research Assessment Exercise.

Jane Kennedy: The Draft Budget approved by the Executive prior to suspension contained an increase in line with inflation for university research funding. The final Budget proposals will be published in December. Until then I am not in a position to comment on the matter.

Rural Rate Relief

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made towards introducing a rural rates relief scheme to assist access to rural retail and Post Office services in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: On 28 March 2002 the Northern Ireland Executive agreed that the proposed Northern Ireland scheme, which was due to come into effect in October 2002, should be suspended following an assessment that to proceed with the scheme as outlined in the original legislation would not have the desired effect.
	Since then options for a more workable scheme have been considered by my officials along with colleagues in Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies.
	As the outcomes of the wider Review of Rating Policy and the Non-Domestic Revaluation were likely to impact on any new Rural Rate Relief Scheme, my predecessor as Minister of Finance and Personnel, Dr. Sean Farren, decided to defer putting forward alternatives until both these exercises were completed. Both the Review and the Revaluation are nearing completion and I will shortly be considering the implications for the Rural Relief Schemetaking account of alternative business reliefs that may emerge from the Review and the impact analysis emerging from the Revaluation exercise.

Sustainability Strategy

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the sustainability strategy is for his Department; and if he will make a statement on how it has changed since the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

Angela Smith: Under devolution, the Northern Ireland Executive's first Programme for Government (which set out the plans and priorities of the devolved Administration) included a commitment that sustainable development would be a key theme running through the Executive's work and priorities. This theme has been reflected in subsequent editions of the Programme for Government.
	In line with this commitment, the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment, which has lead responsibility for sustainable development, earlier this year published a consultation paper entitled XPromoting Sustainable Living, which set out proposals for a sustainable development strategy for Northern Ireland.
	The responses to the consultation exercise are currently being analysed. This work will take account of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Thereafter officials will bring forward a draft Northern Ireland Sustainable Development Strategy for consideration by Ministers.

Apple Industry

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the vacant post of top fruit adviser for the apple industry; and what the timescale is for an appointment to this position.

Ian Pearson: The position of top fruit adviser in the Agri-Food Development Service is vacant due to the promotion of the previous incumbent. This officer is currently providing support to the local top fruit sector through his current role as senior horticulture adviser.
	The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development does intend to fill the vacant post of top fruit adviser by April 2003 provided that a suitably qualified person can be recruited.

PRIME MINISTER

Cabinet Papers (Work and Pensions)

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the Cabinet papers prepared by the Department for Work and Pensions in the session 200102.

Tony Blair: It is established practice under section 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information not to disclose information relating to proceedings of the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees.

Degree Awards

George Howarth: To ask the Prime Minister what research papers his policy unit has produced on allowing private institutions to award degrees; what costings the unit has made of the cost implications; and if he will place copies in the Library.

Tony Blair: Information relating to internal discussion and advice is not disclosed under Exemption 2, Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Government Performance

Tim Yeo: To ask the Prime Minister what system he adopts for assessing the performance of Members of the Government; and to what extent he uses a system based on self-assessment.

Tony Blair: The Ministerial Code provides guidance to Ministers on the standards and conduct expected of them.

Intelligence Services Commissioner

Paul Marsden: To ask the Prime Minister what disciplinary action was taken against the individuals responsible for errors discussed in the report of the Intelligence Services Commissioner for 2001.

Tony Blair: The agency concerned has dealt with each incident in the appropriate way. As the Intelligence Services Commissioner's report makes clear, those concerned acted entirely in good faith. Lessons have been learned from each incident to help ensure that the errors are not repeated.

SCOTLAND

Employment

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when she last met the Scottish Executive to review the role played by Scottish Enterprise in generating employment in Scotland; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Liddell: I meet regularly with colleagues in the Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise to discuss the Scottish economy. The labour market in Scotland is in healthy shape; employment is close to historic highs and the unemployment rate is around the lowest for a generation.

Grants

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list the grants funded by her Department for which individual members of the public and organisations may apply, and if she will make a statement as to (a) the total of such funding in the last financial year, (b) the total number of awards and (c) their administrative costs.

Helen Liddell: My Department does not provide grants to individual members of the public or organisations.

Media

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when she last discussed plurality in the Scottish media with the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport.

Helen Liddell: I meet my right hon. Friend regularly to discuss a range of relevant issues, including those covered by the Communications Bill which was published last week.

Shipyards

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the effect that implementation of the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations will have on Scottish shipyards.

Helen Liddell: The implementation of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (96/61/EC) is devolved to the Scottish Executive. The Directive was implemented in Scotland by the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations (Scotland) 2000, which the Executive proposes to amend to defer until 2007 the date when existing shipyards are required to apply for permits to carry out organotin coating activities.

Union of the Crowns

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much of her Department's budget has been allocated to provide for celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the Union of the Crowns.

Helen Liddell: None.

Union of the Crowns

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations she has had from the Scottish Executive regarding plans to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Union of the Crowns; and when she received them.

Helen Liddell: The First Minister wrote to me on 7 November with proposals to commemorate this and other important dates in Scottish history as a means of promoting tourism. A steering group is being established on which my Department will be represented.

Union of the Crowns

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans she has to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Union of the Crowns.

Helen Liddell: My Department will be part of the Steering Group which will consider what might be done to commemorate this date.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Victims of Crime

Keith Vaz: To ask the Solicitor-General, when she next plans to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss communications with the victims of crime

Harriet Harman: I meet with the Director of Public Prosecutions on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues including victims of crime.
	The CPS has recently completed national implementation of the Direct Communication with Victims initiative which involves the lawyer explaining to the victim the decision to drop or alter a charge.

Public Interest Cases

Julian Lewis: To ask the Solicitor-General, what her practice is in relation to consulting the Crown Prosecution Service in respect of decisions which are likely to be of substantial public interest.

Harriet Harman: In the relatively few cases where the Attorney General's consent is required for a prosecution it is usual for the prosecuting authority to give us its views when asking for consent.
	Apart from such cases, decisions are for the prosecuting authority. The Director of Public prosecutions and other heads of prosecution agencies occasionally consult the Law Officers before taking decisions, particularly where these are likely to be of substantial public interest.

Deceased Victims

Andrew George: To ask the Solicitor-General what policy is applied by the Crown Prosecution Servcie in respect of the protection of the reputation of deceased victims.

Harriet Harman: If the reputation of a victim is impugned during the course of a trial, unless the assertion is relevant to an issue in the case the prosecutor will object to the line of questioning. If the assertion is relevant to the facts of the case and the prosecutor believes it may be untrue, he or she should consider seeking and calling evidence in rebuttal. In appropriate cases the prosecutor will seek the court's leave to cross-examine the defendant as to his or her own bad character.

Crown Prosecution Service

Simon Hughes: To ask the Solicitor-General, what is the policy of the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to the prosecution of incitement to racial hatred.

Harriet Harman: The Crown Prosecution Service reviews all allegations of inciting racial hatred in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
	Before any prosecution can be brought there are two tests that must be satisfied, firstly, there must be sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of a conviction, and secondly the prosecution must be in the public interest.
	The Code for Crown Prosecutors specifically states that Xa prosecution is likely to be needed if the offence was motivated by any form of discrimination against the victim's ethnic or national origin.

Car Parking

Christopher Chope: To ask the Solicitor-General how many car parking spaces are available to (a) employees of her Department and (b) visitors to her Department within the proposed central London road user charging zone.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 19 November 2002
	In relation to the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, no car parking spaces are available for employees or visitors. Parking for the Ministerial cars of the Attorney General and myself are arranged off-site by the Government car agency.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department has no parking spaces available for employees or visitors.
	The Crown Prosecution Service has a total for 32 car parking spaces spread over two offices within the central London road user charging zone. Generally these are available to staff or visitors on a Xby need basis in connection with the Department's business.
	The Serious Fraud Office has a total of 25 spaces, of which 10 spaces are allocated to staff with domestic or medical needs. The remaining 15 are available for booking to visitors, staff (not in the category mentioned previously) and for other operational reasons.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has no car parking spaces within the central London road user charging zone for either employees or visitors.

Congestion Charging

Christopher Chope: To ask the Solicitor-General what the estimated cost is to her Department of the Central London Road User Charging Scheme for (a) 17 February 2003 to 31 March 2003, and (b) 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004.

Harriet Harman: holding answer 19 November 2002
	In relation to the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, the cost of the charge on the two ministerial cars used by the Attorney-General and myself will be borne in the first instance by the Government Car Agency. No figures are currently available to me for the cost, if any, that will be passed to the Department. No employees of the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers travel by car to work. Should the use of a private car be essential or cost effective for any special reason, the Department would bear the cost of the charge. It is not expected that any such occasion should arise.
	The policy of the Treasury Solicitor's Department is to encourage its employees not to use private vehicles on official business and to encourage them to use public transport. The Department will, however, pay road tolls, including the Central London Road User Charge, where use of a private vehicle is essential or where the journey remains cost effective in comparison to the use of public transport.
	The Crown Prosecution Service has no figures to show the estimated cost of the Central London Road User Charge for either of the specified periods.
	The estimates of the likely additional costs to the Serious Fraud Office as a result of the introduction of the Central London Road User Charge are in relation to (a) 1,000 and (b) 10,000.
	In respect of HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, use of private cars is rare. It is estimated that the cost of the Central London Road User Charge is unlikely to exceed for the relevant periods (a) 20 and (b) 100.

Royal Family

Evan Harris: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance she has issued to the CPS on approaching members of the Royal Family for statements when they may be material witnesses in a prosecution.

Harriet Harman: I have not issued guidance to the CPS. The CPS is responsible for the prosecution of criminal cases and will provide advice to the police in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors taking into account any new evidence or relevant information as a case progresses. However, as the police are responsible for investigating allegations of criminal offences and obtaining evidence, the police rather than the CPS would obtain any witness statements.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

National Minimum Wage

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in the Greater London area have received the recent increase in the national minimum wage.

Alan Johnson: Using the data on low pay collected by the Office for National Statistics in spring 2002, the DTI estimates that around 40,000 people in the London area stood to benefit from the October 2002 increase in the national minimum wage.

Electricity Generation

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost per kilowatt hour is of electricity generated by (a) existing coal fired stations, (b) existing gas stations, (c) new gas stations, (d) AGR, (e) Magnox, (f) onshore wind and (g) offshore wind.

Brian Wilson: The costs of generating electricity are a commercial matter for generators.
	Costs can be estimated on a variety of bases and will vary from plant to plant. For example, figures can include all cost items, including depreciation and return on capital, or can refer only to the additional costs associated with continued operation. The costs of plant using fossil fuel will vary as fuel prices change.
	Estimate of the cost of generating electricity from new and existing coal- and gas-fired power stations were published in chapter 5 of the 1998 White Paper, XConclusions of the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation (http://www .dti.gov.uk/energy/publications/whitepapers/review sources/chpt05.pdf).
	Projections of future generation costs using different technologies (including renewables) are available in:
	(i) chapter 6 of the Performance and Innovation Unit's XEnergy Review (http://www.piu.gov.uk/2002/energy/report/9.html), which was published in February 2002; and
	(ii) chapter 6 of the Inter-departmental Analysts' Group report, XLong-Term Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the UK (http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/greenhousegas/cost.pdf), which was published in February 2002.
	Information on the cost of British Energy's UK nuclear stations (which include one Pressurised Water Reactor as well as the AGRs) can be found in the company's report and accounts: (http://www.british-energy.com/investors/reports/index.html).
	Information on electricity generation and the cost of operating the Magnox stations is contained in the report and accounts of Magnox Electric plc. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in Libraries of the House.

Renewable Energy

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much Government financial support has been given to the renewable energy sector in each year since 1990, broken down by (a) research grants, (b) renewables obligation, (c) non-fossil fuel levy and (d) other sources.

Brian Wilson: holding answer 27 November 2002
	Financial support to the renewable energy sector through research grants and other sources and through the non-fossil fuel levy for each year since 1990 is set out in the table.
	The renewables obligation, which took effect from 1 April 2002, does not involve direct Government funding as it is a market-led measure. In this, the first year of the obligation, suppliers are expected to provide 3 per cent. of the electricity supplies from eligible renewable resources. They may meet their obligation through providing a proportion of their supplies from renewables, through buying renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) in the market or through paying the buy-out fee.
	Electricity from renewable sources now also benefits from exemption from the climate change levy (which was introduced in April 2001). In addition, the Government have made provision of 250 million over three years for capital grants for renewable energy.
	
		 million 
		
			  Renewable energy funding(29) Fossil fuel levy 
		
		
			 199091 15.2 6.1 
			 199192 18.0 11.7 
			 199293 18.7 28.9 
			 199394 17.9 68.1 
			 199495 12.1 96.4 
			 199596 12.3 94.5(30) 
			 199697 9.3 111.9(31) 
			 199798 6.8 120.7 
			 199899 5.9 120.3(32) 
			 19992000 7.9 49.6(33) 
			 200001 9.7 62.0 
			 200102 13.6 85.5 
		
	
	(29) This column sets out payments from the DTI's new and renewable energy RD programme. In addition, some relevant projects will have been funded by research councils.
	(30) The reduction in levy funding compared to the previous year was primarily due to a fall in generated output for hydro (46 per cent. reduction) and wind (20 per cent. reduction) caused by mild weather and drought conditions during 199596.
	(31) Figures from 199697 on include payments from the fossil fuel levy (Scotland) which commenced in that year.
	(32) The reduction was due to the effect of termination of NFFO 1 and 2 contracts on 31 December 1998.
	(33) The significant reduction was due to the full-year impact of the termination of NFFO 1 and 2 contracts.

Diamonds

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with (a) the World Diamond Council and (b) representatives from the UK jewellers industries regarding promoting the Kimberley Process.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
	In November 2001, my right hon. Friend the then Minister for Europe (Mr Peter Hain) met with Gary Ralfe, Managing Director of the De Beers Group, part of the World Diamond Council, to discuss the Kimberley Process.
	FCO officials have had regular contact with the World Diamond Council for the past two years and are in close touch with the British Jewellers Association.
	In preparation for implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in January 2003, further discussions with the UK diamond industry, including the Jewellers Association, are due to take place at the FCO on 6 December.

Manufacturing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what the level of (a) manufacturing output and (b) employment in the manufacturing sector in each of the last five years were in each region of the UK;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on changes in the size of the manufacturing sector in the UK in the last five years;
	(3)  what the level of (a) manufacturing output and (b) employment in the manufacturing sector in the North West were for each of the last five years.

Alan Johnson: The available information is given in the following tables.
	
		Table: Manufacturing Gross Value Added(34) by English regions, Wales, Scotland and -- Northern Ireland 199599 (million)
		
			 Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 
		
		
			 United Kingdom(35) 139,789 146,079 152,299 153,408 152,402 
			 North East 6,919 7,330 7,348 7,344 6,654 
			 North West 16,407 16,919 17,442 17,828 17,577 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 13,162 13,953 14,590 13,934 13,567 
			 East Midlands 10,320 11,036 11,790 11,862 11,671 
			 West Midlands 22,501 22,674 24,565 23,877 23,415 
			 East 11,452 12,168 12,880 12,910 12,584 
			 South East 16,004 16,665 17,800 18,642 19,229 
			 London 12,764 13,650 13,781 14,382 14,567 
			 South West 8,965 9,359 9,806 9,894 10,482 
			 Wales 8,831 9,311 9,200 9,323 8,832 
			 Scotland 9,732 10,024 10,002 10,283 10,555 
			 Northern Ireland 2,730 2,990 3,102 3,124 3,264 
		
	
	Notes:
	(34) Estimates of regional gross value added in this table are on a residence basis, where the income of commuters is allocated to where they live, rather than their place of work.
	(35) Excluding 'Extra-Regio'which consists of gross value added which cannot be assigned to regions.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics 'regional gross value added' 21 November 2002.
	
		Table: Employee jobs in manufacturing by English Regions, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland 19972001 (December)
		
			 Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 United Kingdom 4,176,000 4,147,000 4,019,000 3,904,000 3,745,000 
			 North East 191,000 187,000 173,000 176,000 169,000 
			 North West 532,000 530,000 514,000 499,000 474,000 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 425,000 410,000 394,000 384,000 368,000 
			 East Midlands 424,000 423,000 399,000 383,000 365,000 
			 West Midlands 561,000 553,000 533,000 495,000 478,000 
			 East 356,000 353,000 328,000 334,000 327,000 
			 South East 440,000 442,000 444,000 437,000 427,000 
			 London 285,000 287,000 296,000 287,000 277,000 
			 South West 318,000 321,000 314,000 302,000 291,000 
			 Wales 215,000 208,000 207,000 201,000 193,000 
			 Scotland 320,000 327,000 315,000 302,000 280,000 
			 Northern Ireland 108,000 107,000 101,000 104,000 99,000 
		
	
	Source
	19972000 DTI analyses of employment statistics from Annual Business Inquiry (GB) and Short Term Employment Survey (Northern Ireland) taken from NOMIS (ONS' labour market database). 2001 from 'Labour Market Trends' (ONS), Table B16, November 2002.

Post Office

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Post Office has to close (a) main post offices and (b) sub post offices in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The programme to restructure the urban post office network has only just started and is being taken forward in consultation with individual sub-postmasters, the community, Members of Parliament, other local stakeholders and Postwatch in accordance with the Code of Practice. There is no pre-determined closure list. Under the code, Post Office Ltd. is required to consult Postwatch and other interested parties on its specific proposals for change.
	The objective of the urban network restructuring programme is to ensure that ad hoc closures which would leave gaps in the network are prevented. It is envisaged that the restructured urban network will provide modernised and improved facilities which meet customers' needs and expectations and are in the right location for the local community.

Post Office

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations her Department has received from the Post Office regarding the relocation of the main Elgin Post Office in the constituency of Moray; if she will seek clarification on the future location of this post office; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Department has received no representations about the relocation of the main Elgin Post Office. Decisions on the location or relocation of individual post offices are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Any proposal to relocate a post office is subject to consultation with the local community under the Code of Practice agreed between Post Office Ltd. and Postwatch.

Steel Production

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the required (a) capacity and (b) capability of steel production in the UK is in order to meet UK manufacturing needs.

Alan Johnson: The UK steel industry makes a wide, and increasingly sophisticated, range of products to meet the needs of the manufacturing industry in the home market and overseas. In 2001, UK production of primary steel products was 13.5 million tonnes, while capacity stood at 18.9 million tonnes at the end of that year. In the same year, UK demand for primary steel products was 13.7 million tonnes.

Multinational Companies

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to take steps as recommended by paragraphs 177 and 178 of the UN Expert Panel report to ensure compliance by UK-based companies and individuals with OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises.

Patricia Hewitt: The proposal that countries, which are signatories to the OECD Guidelines, ensure their companies adhere to and act on the Guidelines, is one of a wide range of recommendations made by the UN Expert Panel report being considered by the Government. In consultations at the UN on 13 November 2002, a number of states asked for more information to be made available to substantiate the report's allegations. The UK has also asked the UN directly for more information, but has not yet received a response.

Multinational Companies

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of whether UK-based companies have breached OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises in respect of activities in the DRC, as set out in the UN Expert Panel report.

Patricia Hewitt: The claim that a number of UK companies are in breach of the OECD Guidelines in respect of their activities in the DRC is one of a number of violations alleged by the UN Expert Panel report, which is being considered by the Government. In consultations at the UN on 13 November 2002, a number of states asked for more information to be made available to substantiate the report's allegations. The UK has also asked the UN directly for more information, but has not yet received a response.

TRANSPORT

Public Highways

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will list those categories of public bodies which can apply for the permanent closure of areas of the public highway to prevent use by motorised vehicles;
	(2)  in what circumstances individuals or organisations, other than public bodies, may apply for the permanent closure of areas of the public highway to prevent use by motorised vehicles; and in what circumstances this would be allowed.

David Jamieson: holding answer 25 November 2002
	Use of a public highway by vehicles may be prohibited or restricted by means of traffic regulation orders (TRO) made under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, while the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Highways Act 1980 include provisions for stopping up highways completely.
	Responsibility for making TROs rests with the local traffic authority. It is open to anyone to make representations about the need to control vehicular traffic, but it is for the traffic authority concerned to decide whether the making of a TRO is appropriate. For local roads the making of a TRO is subject to the procedures set out in The Local Authorities Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 SI 1996/2489 and for trunk roads The Secretary of State's Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1990 SI 1990/1656. These regulations require prior notice of the proposed making of an order and allow for objections to be made which the traffic authority must consider in deciding whether to make the order.
	Section 247 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides for the stopping up or diversion of highways in connection with development by means of an order made by the Secretary of State on the application of a developer who has been granted planning permission or by a government department. A section 247 order removes all highway rights. Applications must be made to the relevant Government Office. Section 249 of the Act enables the extinguishment of the right to use vehicles on a highway where a local planning authority has resolved to adopt such a proposal in the interest of improving the amenity of part of their area. Section 252 of the Act sets out the procedure for making orders under sections 247 and 249. Proposed orders must be advertised to allow for objections to be made and a public inquiry to be held if necessary.
	Under the provisions of section 116 of the Highways Act 1980 a magistrates court may make an order authorising the stopping up or diversion of a public highway on the grounds that it is unnecessary or can be diverted so as to make it nearer or more commodious to the public. Such an order removes all highway rights. An application for an order may be made by the highway authority or that authority acting on behalf of another person where they are willing to grant a request by that person to stop up or divert a highway. The highway authority must give notice of an application for an order. Persons aggrieved by the proposal to stop up or divert a highway under section 116 have a right to be heard by the court.

A180

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when resurfacing of the A180 with low noise materials will commence.

David Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Tim Matthews to Shona McIsaacs dated 28 November 2002
	I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking when resurfacing of the A180 with low noise materials will commence.
	The criteria for deciding the priority for applying quieter surfacing to concrete roads were announced in October 2001. These criteria are:
	that wherever possible the application of quieter surfaces will fit in with normal maintenance needs;
	that priority will be given to those sites where treatment would benefit the greatest number of people;
	that the works will be carried out in such a way as to minimise disruption to general public and users of the network;
	that priority will be given to roads, opened since June 1998, where actual noise levels turned out significantly higher than predicted at the time of Public Inquiry.
	Resurfacing of two concrete sections of the A180, between Harborough and Stallingborough and between Great Coates and Pyewipe, is due to be undertaken by 2001 under the Ten Year Plan. Originally, both schemes were included in the list of roads to be resurfaced by 2005, based on an assessment that maintenance would need to be carried out by that date. However, current indications are that maintenance work will not be needed between Great Coates and Pyewipe before 2005 and it is probable that this work will be undertaken later.
	I am afraid that it is not possible to provide a better idea of timing until the review of the maintenance programme is complete following the 2002 spending settlement. We will write to you again once the results of that review are known.
	If you require any further information, please contact Mick Spink, the Highways Agency's Area Manager for the a180. He can be contacted on 1003 283 5397 or e-mail mick.spink@highways.gsi.gov.uk. Or for further information on resurfacing of concrete roads, visit our website at www.highways.gov.uk and use our search facility to find 'concrete roads'.

A316, Twickenham

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speeding tickets have been (a) issued and (b) withdrawn from each of the speed cameras on the A316 within the constituency of Twickenham; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: I have been asked to reply.
	This information is not collected centrally.

A428, Bedfordshire

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the repair bill for the cracked whisper road surface of the A428 in Bedfordshire which was laid when owned by the Highways Agency will be met by Central Government.

David Jamieson: The A428 in Bedfordshire was detrunked on 1 September 2001. At that time no specific road maintenance work (other than routine) had been identified by the Highways Agency in their forward programme and this was agreed with Bedfordshire County Council.
	Funds have been provided for minor maintenance and routine works for the remainder of 200102 and for routine works in 200203. There have been no requests from Bedfordshire County Council for additional funding. Any maintenance or improvement works that have been identified by the Council since they became the Highway Authority for the A428 should be included in their annual Local Transport Plan updates.

Turvey High Street (Pedestrian Crossing)

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the repair bill for the eroded high friction dressing laid for the Highways Agency at the Turvey High Street pedestrian crossing in Bedfordshire will be met by Central Government.

David Jamieson: The A428 in Bedfordshire was detrunked on 1 September 2001. At that time no specific road maintenance work (other than routine) had been identified by the Highways Agency in their forward programme and this was agreed with Bedfordshire County Council. Funds have been provided for minor maintenance and routine works for the remainder of 2001/02 and for routine works in 2002/03. There have been no requests from Bedfordshire County Council for additional funding. Any maintenance or improvement works that have been identified by the Council since they became the Highway Authority for the A428 should be included in their annual Local Transport Plan updates.

Airport (Hullavington)

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  when he wrote to local authorities in Wiltshire formally as part of the consultation exercise, inviting them to submit representations in respect of the proposal to locate an airport at Hullavington; and if he will list the authorities concerned;
	(2)  if he will rank in order of closeness by proximity of each district local authority area within a 20 mile radius of the prospective airport at Hullavington;
	(3)  what reason he has not held public (a) meetings and (b) exhibitions in North Wiltshire as part of the public consultation on locating an airport at Hullavington;
	(4)  in which local authority areas his Department has initiated (a) public meetings, and (b) exhibitions as part of the public consultation in respect of locating an airport at Hullavington.

David Jamieson: As I explained to the hon. Member in my answer of 25 November 2002, Official Report, column 75W, the consultation on 'The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East', does not include any option for airport development at Hullavington.

Airport Capacity

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which RDAs have contributed to investment in airport terminal capacity; and how much was invested at each airport.

David Jamieson: holding answer 25 November 2002
	I have been asked to reply.
	This information is not held centrally. Investment decisions are a matter for individual RDAs. We understand that some RDAs at least are supportive of airports' plans to expand terminal capacity and would consider investing in such projects, subject to EC state aid rules.

Cardiff and Bristol Airports

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action will be taken to open up routes to (a) Cardiff and (b) Bristol airports.

David Jamieson: The Government encourages the use of regional airports. Community airlines are free to fly where they wish within the European Economic Area (EEA) under the Xthird package of aviation liberalisation. In addition, since 1997 we have pursued a policy of offering foreign airlines from outside the EEA unrestricted frequencies to regional points in the UK on a reciprocal basis. It remains a commercial decision for airlines as to the services and frequencies that they offer.

Channel Tunnel Links

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received for direct links to the Channel Tunnel from the north-west for (a) passenger trains and (b) freight trains.

David Jamieson: My Department receives representations from time to time about the development of passenger rail links to the Channel Tunnel. We are also considering proposals by Central Railway to construct and operate a dedicated freight link between Liverpool and northern France. We have received the Strategic Rail Authority's advice on this proposal and will respond to Central Railway in due course.

Cycling Helmets

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has recently assessed the change in the rates of injury from accidents for children cycling as a result of wearing helmets.

John Spellar: This information is not available centrally. However, the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust has been running a cycle helmet promotion scheme in Reading since 1992. During that time, cycle helmet use by children has trebled and there has been a 45 per cent. reduction in the number of hospital treated head injuries. A recent study commissioned by the Department on the effectiveness of cycle helmets found that overall, evidence suggests that cycle helmets are effective at reducing the severity of head, brain and upper facial injuries for all ages, especially children. This report will be published shortly.

Jet Skis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fatalities there have been in UK waters in each of the last two years involving jet skis.

David Jamieson: holding answer 25 November 2002
	HM Coastguard incident reports record a total of 494 incidents involving Personal Watercraft between January 2000 and 22 November 2002 around the UK coastline. One fatality was recorded. A breakdown by year is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Year Number of incidents Number of fatalities 
		
		
			 2000 150 0 
			 2001 179 0 
			 2002(36) 165 1 
		
	
	(36) To 22 November 2002

Oil Tankers

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on banning single hull ships in EU waters.

David Jamieson: holding answer 25 November 2002
	The UK consistently supported measures to accelerate the withdrawal of single hull tankers which were introduced following the loss of the tanker ERIKA in December 1999. Jointly, with Denmark and the Netherlands, we took the lead in securing mandatory change in the International Maritime Organization's (MO) MARPOL Convention on an international timetable. The UK preferred a global programme to a regional arrangement, since coastlines outside the EU are equally deserving of protection, and also supported the consequential EU Regulation EC 417/2002, which imposed the IMO text in EU member states.

Oil Tankers

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will propose international initiatives to bring forward the end of the use of large single-hulled oil tankers;
	(2)  if he will bring forward the date when single-hulled large oil tankers are to be banned from UK waters; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The recent amendment to the MARPOL Convention agreed in the International Maritime Organization, and implemented within the EU by Regulation No. 417/2002, requires that single-hull tankers having no additional protection, such as the PRESTIGE, must be phased out in order of age between 2003 and 2007. Single-hull tankers fitted with partial protection must be phased out in order of age between 2003 and 2015. It will be necessary for each category of single-hull tanker to satisfy an additional requirement for a rigorous condition assessment survey to be able to operate after 2005 and 2010 respectively. Investment in the newer double-hull tankers depends on the stability offered by this timetable.

Performance-related Pay

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which employees of (a) his Department, (b) the Strategic Rail Authority and (c) the Civil Aviation Authority are paid performance-related pay; and if he will make a statement on the nature and success of such schemes.

John Spellar: All members of staff in my Department are eligible for performance pay which forms an integral part of my Department's pay systems. In addition, staff below the senior civil service may also receive special performance bonus awards to reward exceptional performance over a limited period in particularly demanding tasks or situations. Annual awards are subject to individual assessment against the level of achievement of pre-determined performance targets. Staff who are on fixed-term contracts are eligible to performance-related bonuses subject to the terms of their contract.
	All Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) employees who are on standard SRA terms and conditions are eligible for performance-related pay.
	All employees of the Civil Aviation Authority have access to performance related bonuses, but this is an internal matter for the CAA.

Rail Franchises

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which rail franchises are operated as a management contract; when each of these contracts began; why each was let as this type of contract in the first instance; and what changes to these franchises are planned.

David Jamieson: The passenger rail franchises currently being operated as management contracts are set out in the table.
	
		
			 Franchise Start of management contract Current franchise expiry date 
		
		
			 Anglia March 2002 April 2004 
			 Arriva Trains Merseyside February 2001 February 2003 
			 Arriva Trains Northern February 2001 February 2003 
			 First North Western March 2001 April 2004 
			 Wales and Borders October 2001 April 2004 
			 Wessex October 2001 April 2004 
		
	
	None of these franchises was initially let as a management contract. Current arrangements have been negotiated by the SRA as interim measures to ensure the continued viability of services or to facilitate changes to the franchise map.

Road Closures (Greater London)

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much trunk road and motorway lane mileage has been closed to cars in the Greater London area in the past 12 months.

John Spellar: Since re-classification to the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN), there are no trunk roads in the Greater London area. There have been a total of 87 miles of motorway lanes, for which the Highways Agency is responsible, temporarily closed to cars in the past 12 months and no permanent closures. These closures included overnight routine maintenance work, off-peak daytime works and emergency closures to deal with incidents and carriageway/safety barrier repairs.

Roadworks

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trunk road excavations there have been in each constituency in each year since 1997; and what the cost was.

David Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Mathews, to write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Tim Mathews to Mr. Paul Marsden, dated 28 November 2002
	I have been asked by David Jamieson to reply to your recent parliamentary question about, how many trunk road excavations there have been in each constituency in each year since 1997, and what the cost was.
	Unfortunately, I cannot provide this information. The Highways Agency does not currently collect this data and it could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost. However should you be seeking specific information we may be able to provide it.

Roadworks

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on imposing time limits on companies engaged in construction work on existing trunk roads.

David Jamieson: The Highways Agency uses a variety of different forms of contract to carry out maintenance and improvement construction work on the trunk road network in England. They all incorporate a time limit to undertake the work and have contractual mechanisms to help achieve compliance with the contract duration. In addition, the Highways Agency monitors the performance of its suppliers in this respect and takes this into account in determining future opportunities.

Ticketing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research has been conducted by or for his Department on profiling users of the traveline (a) phone and (b) website services.

David Jamieson: No research is currently available regarding the profiles of traveline users for either the telephone or for the website. However, the Department for Transport is currently funding a research project on behalf of the traveline partners that is partly looking at existing traveline telephone customers to find out who they are, why they are calling, what information they are requesting and what they are supplied with. The results will be available in April 2003.
	The research will not look at profiles of those using the website.

Ticketing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent by (a) his Department and (b) other bodies on (i) branding and (ii) advertising the traveline (A) brand, (B) phone service and (C) website in each year since 1999; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Department for Transport spent 36,319 on traveline branding in 200001. It spent 1.025 million on an advertising campaign for the traveline phone service in 200102.
	Advertising by traveline partners has included adding the traveline logo to paper timetables, on bus stop posters, to publications for example in Yellow Pages and on the backs of bus tickets. All traveline partners have been asked to include traveline branding in their publications and this is now widespread among bus operators and local authorities.
	The Department has spent no monies on branding the website but has followed the traveline logo branding guidelines in devising the design of the web page. The Department has not advertised the traveline web address but this is being considered in future promotions.

Ticketing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many tickets have been sold through the traveline service in each year that it has been in operation (a) by telephone and (b) via the internet, broken down by mode of travel; and what the total value was of tickets sold in each case.

David Jamieson: Traveline does not sell tickets for any mode of transport by either telephone or via the internet.

Ticketing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) web page impressions and (b) unique website visitors have been registered by the Traveline website in each year that it has been in operation.

David Jamieson: The traveline website is not directly managed by the Department for Transport, but by the relevant traveline partners who provide information about usage of the site to the Department.
	The website was launched in 2001 with links initially to local journey planners, however, several new regional journey planners have recently been launched and these are now linked to the traveline portal site.
	As the traveline site is a portal or gateway to other websites, we are not aware of the number of web pages, however traveline partners are estimating the number of individual user sessions that take place each week. This has grown steadily over the year from nothing to about 3,000 individual user inquiry sessions per week. Continued growth in usage is expected over the coming months as further regional traveline journey planners are launched and linked to the portal, and as advertising of the traveline web address starts to appear.

West Coast Main Line

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the upgrade of the West Coast main line.

David Jamieson: A draft strategy for upgrading the West Coast Main Line was published by the Strategic Rail Authority on 9 October 2002. Comments have been invited by 16 December 2002.

TREASURY

Overseas Aid

Robert Walter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the UK Overseas Aid Development budget to reach the UN target level of 0.7 per cent. of gross national income.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 7 November, Official Report, column 738W.
	Any timetable beyond 200506 for reaching the UN 0.7 per cent. target would properly be a matter for future parliaments. For this reason we believe that it is more important to look at what has actually been achieved and what is firmly budgeted for, and it is this recordrather than any aspirational timetablethat should be seen as the critical test of our commitment.

Capital Gains

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what review he is undertaking of the capital gains tax consequences of different dividend reinvestment practices in unit trusts and OEICS.

Ruth Kelly: The taxation of dividend reinvestment in United Kingdom authorised unit trusts and open-ended investment companies is long established and well understood. Tax is payable on the distribution in the same way that it would be, were the dividend actually paid out. This means that for individuals, because of the tax credit rules, only higher-rate taxpayers have any additional tax to pay.
	There is no capital gains tax, or corporation tax on chargeable gains, payable until investors dispose of their units or shares. And then investors can normally treat the reinvested dividends as part of their allowable expenditure in calculating the capital gains.
	The Chancellor has asked the Inland Revenue to review the taxation of investment in similar overseas collective investment schemes. He emphasised in the Pre Budget Report that the Government are committed to continuing constructive dialogue with fund managers and other stakeholders on the implementation of a new regime. In taking that work forward, the Government will listen carefully to all views. A key objective is to ensure that the competitiveness of the UK fund management industry is preserved without distorting the market for savings and investment products as a whole.

Census Data

John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the detailed census data and analysis will be available.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Battle, dated 28 November 2002
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking when the detailed census data and analysis will be publicly available. (83484)
	The first detailed resultsthe Key Statistics for Local Authoritiesare planned to be released in a report to Parliament on 13 February 2003. The report will present a selection of summary statistics covering the whole range of census topics. The information will also be available from the ONS website.
	Further output, presenting more detailed results including those for smaller areas will follow in a series of reports and other products over a subsequent period of 32 weeks. Reports to Parliament for England and Wales will give results for local authorities, health authorities, Parliamentary Constituencies, urban and rural areas, and regions, with additional bi-lingual reports for Wales. These will present results in a succinct printed form, also available and supplemented by more detailed results on CD ROMs included with some printed volumes, with software for viewing and manipulation. Electronic versions will also be placed on the ONS Websitewww.statistics.gov.uk and will accessible to all without charge.
	Results for small areas which will comprise the bulk of output, will be in the form of standard local statistics issued as an integrated set of statistics, geography and metadata free at the point of use, and again via the ONS website and other means.

Child Tax Credit

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding changes that may be necessary to the child tax credit claim form.

Dawn Primarolo: The new tax credits claim form has been developed in consultation with a wide range of organisations and has been through extensive usability testing. The Inland Revenue continue to consult widely on a range of tax credits issues, including information materials.

Child Tax Credit

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which body will be responsible for dealing with (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit appeals.

Dawn Primarolo: Tax credits form part of the tax system and appeals will therefore be heard in the same way as tax appeals. However, tax credit claimants form a new client group for the tax appeals system. Consequently, appeals by claimants will continue to be heard by the Appeals Service for a transitional period, while the necessary changes are made to allow them to be dealt with effectively under the tax appeals system.

Customs and Excise Seizures

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many seizures were made of (a) species and (b) other material listed under the CITES regime the last year for which figures are available; how many prosecutions were pursued; and what the outcomes were of those prosecutions.

John Healey: holding answer 20 November 2002
	In the year 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 Customs made 337 seizures of imports or exports subject to EU legislation on endangered species. The goods seized were:
	Live Animals6,345
	Plants8,734
	Parts or derivatives1,927,622
	Items recorded by weight1,042,872 grams
	In the same period Customs prosecuted six persons for endangered species related offences of which five were convicted.

Customs and Excise Seizures

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements are in place to ensure that cars seized by Customs and Excise have documentation to enable the return of such cars to their owners.

John Healey: Vehicles used to smuggle goods into the UK or used to transport such goods within the UK are liable to seizure. In certain circumstances Customs will offer to restore the vehicle for a fee. Normally such a restoration offer is made on-the-spot immediately after seizure and vehicle registration documents are not transferred. Vehicles seized that have been used in large scale or repeated smuggling attempts are not normally offered for restoration. Customs always seek to notify the owner of a seized vehicle of that seizure where they are not present at the time of seizure.

Customs and Excise Seizures

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much compensation has been paid to owners of cars seized by Customs and Excise when the decision has been overturned on appeal.

John Healey: Customs have had the powers to seize means of transport used in smuggling attempts since the 19th century. Customs do not hold central records on the amount of compensation paid to owners of cars seized by Customs when the decision has been overturned on appeal.
	In the last two years 1,586 seizure cases have been appealed to magistrates courts of which less than 1 per cent. were overturned.

Customs and Excise Seizures

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cars seized by Customs and Excise in the last year were disposed of before an appeal to a tribunal.

John Healey: Customs' policy is not to dispose of seized vehicles until any appeal against seizure to a magistrates court has been heard. The time limits for such an appeal are specified in law. Once the time period for such an appeal has elapsed or the magistrates have rejected the appeal, it is Customs' policy to dispose of the vehicle as efficiently as possible.
	An appeal to a tribunal may be made when Customs decide not to offer restoration. There is no time limit for restoration requests to be made and tribunals often take place many months or even years after the seizure. In the past two financial years,75 per cent. of vehicle seizures have not been appealed. Where a request has been made for restoration of the vehicle, Customs' decision has been upheld in 97 per cent. of the cases. Customs do not hold central records of the number of seized cars that were disposed of before an appeal to a tribunal.

Debt Relief

Paul Marsden: To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of funding of the hold in trust policy for those countries yet to secure debt relief due to civil wars.

John Healey: The latest data show that the UK has been holding in trust a total of 1,057,200 for six countries still to secure debt relief because of civil wars, external conflict or the absence of a poverty reduction programme. We continue to use international and bilateral meetings to urge other creditors to follow our lead on this policy.

Insolvency Service

Andy Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he received the new pay and grading system for the Insolvency Service Submission; and when he will make an announcement.

Paul Boateng: The Insolvency Service have been discussing the details of their proposals with us for some time. We would hope to be able to conclude the process shortly.

Landfill Tax (Moray)

Angus Robertson: To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a temporary suspension of the landfill tax for the flood victims of Moray.

John Healey: The Government has no plans at present to introduce a temporary suspension of landfill tax.

Mortgages

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) building societies, (b) banks and (c) other banking institutions offer mortgages without checking independently the salary of applicants for mortgages; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: Information concerning lending decisions by mortgage lenders is not available to the Government, as these are purely commercial decisions. However, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be regulating mortgage business with effect from October 2004. As part of this process, the FSA has been consulting on rules in respect of responsible lending. In future, lenders will need to be able to show that account is taken of the consumer's ability to pay before entering into a mortgage contract.

Overseas Development Assistance

Martin Caton: To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether he estimates that the UK will achieve the UN target for overseas development assistance as a proportion of national income by 2015;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of when the UK will reach the UN target for overseas development assistance as a proportion of the gross national income.

John Healey: The Government remains fully committed to reaching the UN 0.7 per cent. ODA7GNI target. In the 2002 Spending Review the Government set out its spending plans for the next three years up to 200506 and has made substantial increases to the aid budget. The UK's level of overseas development assistance will reach 0.33 per cent. of GNI by 200304 and 0.40 per cent. by 200506, up from 0.26 per cent. in 1997. This will place us well above the current G7 country average of 0.19 per cent. and the current OECD average of 0.22 per cent.
	Any timetable beyond 200506 for reaching the UN target would properly be a matter for future parliaments. For this reason we believe that it is important to look at what has actually been achieved and what is firmly budgeted forrather than any aspirational timetableas the critical test of our commitment.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Pension Credit

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the percentage of pensioners in the Kettering constituency who will benefit from the pension credit to be introduced in October 2003.

Ian McCartney: Estimates of pension credit entitlement are not available at constituency level due to the insufficient sample cases in the survey data used.
	As at May 2002, there were 2,700 MIG recipients in the Kettering constituency.

Carers Benefit

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when new carers over the age of 65 will be eligible to apply for Carers Benefit.

Maria Eagle: As part of the benefit changes which are providing some 500 million over three years in extra help for carers, the upper age limit on claims for Invalid Care Allowance was abolished on 28 October 2002. This change means that new carers aged 65 and over can now claim the benefit. The overlapping benefit rules mean that only those with no, or with a low rate of State Pension, are likely to receive the benefit. However, carers with underlying entitlement to Invalid Care Allowance can gain access to the carer premium in income-related benefits such as the Minimum Income Guarantee, resulting in a significantly higher award of benefit. Invalid Care Allowance is to be renamed XCarer's Allowance in April 2003.

Child Benefit

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the Department has drafted a letter for Child Benefit claimants regarding the legal obligation to ensure their children attend school; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The letter to parents notifying them of their rate of Child Benefit from April 2003 will be accompanied in England by a leaflet from the Department for Education and Skills on education matters. The leaflet includes a message on parents' responsibilities in ensuring that their children attend school. The letters will be issued from early December. A copy of the leaflet will be placed in the Library.

Disability Living Allowance

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of claims for Disability Living Allowance have been (a) refused and (b) granted after a review or appeal since April 2001.

Maria Eagle: The exact information requested is unavailable. However we do hold some relevant information and this is shown in the tables.
	
		Number of applicants for Disability Living Allowance rejected on first application over the past two financial years in Great Britain
		
			 Number of DLA applicants rejected on first application 
		
		
			  
			  
			 200001 206,145 
			 200102 192,315 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Information is available only at a national level.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	Source:
	ASD Information Centre, data taken from 100 per cent. extract of monthly management information system.
	
		Number of applicants for Disability Living Allowance that were granted on appeal and granted on review in Great Britain May 2001-May 2002 -- of which:
		
			 Quarter ending All claims where DLA was granted Claims granted on first application Claims granted on appeal Claims granted on review 
		
		
			 May 2001 66,300 53,700 9,100 3,500 
			 August 2001 63,800 53,100 7,400 3,300 
			 November 2001 62,900 51,500 7,700 3,600 
			 February 2002 59,700 49,400 6,300 4,000 
			 May 2002 66,400 56,100 7,200 3,100 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures are in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
	Source:
	5 per cent. data taken from the AA/DLA computer system from quarter ending 31 May 2001 to quarter ending 31 May 2002.
	
		The number of Disability Living Allowance appeals cleared at hearing, with details about those found in favour of the appellant at hearing, decided against the appellant and decision upheld at hearing with percentages from March 2001 to May 2002
		
			 Quarter ending Cleared Found in favour Percentage found in favour Decided against Percentage decided against Decision upheld Percentage decision upheld 
		
		
			 May 2001 22,800 11,940 52.4 15 0.1 10,655 46.7 
			 August 2001 20,055 10,610 52.9 25 0.1 9,205 45.9 
			 November 2001 19,950 10,565 53.0 50 0.3 9,135 45.8 
			 February 2002 17,300 9,425 54.5 10 0.1 7,695 44.5 
			 May 2002 19,865 10,710 53.9 15 0.1 8,940 45.0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data become available.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	3. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
	4. Discrepancies between cleared and breakdown due to outcomes such as withdrawn or misconceived appeals.
	Source:
	100 per cent. download of the Generic Appeals Processing System.

Disability Premium

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many families on Income Support have more than one child which satisfies the criteria for entitlement to the disability premium.

Malcolm Wicks: In Great Britain, as at August 2002, there were 7,600 Income Support claimants with more than one child receiving either the Disabled Child Premium or both the Disabled Child Premium and Enhanced Disabled Child Premium.
	Source:
	Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, August 2002.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received regarding changes that may be necessary to the minimum income guarantee claim form.

Ian McCartney: Extensive research and consultation were undertaken when developing the new, shorter, minimum income guarantee form (MIG1) however it is, as are all of the Department's forms and leaflets, kept under review.
	We have received a request from Carers UK that the claim form be further amended to reflect that, since 28 October 2002, older carers have been able to claim invalid care allowance. The April 2003 re-print of the MIG1 will reflect this point, in the meantime staff handling MIG claims have been alerted to this change.

Post Office Card Account

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will announce the alternative arrangements for those people who will not be able to use the PIN number associated with a post office card account.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 25 November 2002
	Customers who cannot or do not want to use a card and PIN may want to consider an account with a cheque book or pass book. Customers will be supplied with information which clearly sets out their account options (including the key features of each type of account) and enables them to decide which account best meets their needs and circumstances.
	The alternative arrangements are not needed until order books and giros cease in 2005 and we expect them to be in place in autumn 2004. Work is currently under way to achieve this. We will ensure that the method introduced will be secure, efficient and available from outlets including post offices.

Post Office Card Account

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria are used to decide where the pilot scheme for the Post Office Card Account was to be held.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	Implementation of the Card Account, including any piloting arrangements, is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. within the terms of their contract with the spending departments.
	I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Post Office Ltd. to write direct to the hon. Member.

Voluntary Sector

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the Government plans to reform the rules on availability for work to make it easier for people out of paid employment to take voluntary work; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Brown: We have laid before Parliament draft regulations which will amend the rules on availability for work for jobseeker's allowance recipients. Subject to parliamentary approval, these regulations will extend from 48 hours to one week the period of notice before jobseekers who engage in voluntary work must be available to start employment. In order to ensure that they do not miss out on job opportunities, jobseekers who undertake voluntary work will still be required to be available for an interview at 48 hours' notice.
	This relaxation in the rules should make it easier for people out of paid employment to make a greater commitment to volunteering by allowing them to give a week's notice before having to start a job. It should also make it more worthwhile for voluntary organisations to take on unemployed volunteers and offer them development and training opportunities.
	We propose to introduce the changes nationally for a trial period of a year so that an evaluation can take place.